New York New York ... my kind of town ..

From a New York Paper. ;;
================================================== ========



Don't blame only feds

Crime rate, inept pols leveled New Orleans before the storm



Let's take a break from the joy of Bush bashing to reveal the dirty
little secret of New Orleans: Its local government deserves an F for its
planning and response to Katrina. And one other thing: The New Orleans
police force would be a joke if it weren't a disgrace.
Yes, I know it's impolitic to say such things while the suffering in
the Big Easy is fresh and many cops risked their lives to save others. But
now is the time to blow the whistle on the story line being repeated by rote
across America: That the federal government ignored New Orleans because most
of its residents are black and poor.

That narrative has all the accuracy of a historic novel: it takes two
undisputed facts - the feds were slow and New Orleans is largely black and
poor - and weaves in pure fiction to make the desired link.

The charge of racism-inspired foot-dragging isn't just nonsense. It's
pernicious nonsense, as in destructive and malicious. You know that's a fact
because loony Howard Dean, the Democratic Party boss, is now peddling it.
He's joined by Jesse Jackson, who said the squalor in New Orleans "looks
like the hull of a slave ship." Oh, please.

If even a smidgen of the racism charges are true, President Bush
should be shot. But before we give him his blindfold, let's look at New
Orleans before Katrina.

Start with crime. That looters ran unchecked after the hurricane isn't
surprising when you consider that criminals have had the run of the city for
years.

It is a perennial contender for Murder Capital. The 264 homicides last
year were a drop of only 11 from 2003 - and the first decline in five years.

New Orleans, with fewer than 500,000 people, had almost half the
murders of New York, which had 570 homicides last year in a city of more
than 8 million. Put another way, if New York had New Orleans' murder rate,
we would have more than 4,200 murders a year.

That the New Orleans police are hardly the Finest was proven by a
shocking report yesterday: Nearly a third of New Orleans cops - some 500 of
the 1,600 - are now unaccounted for. The department says some quit, but it
doesn't know where most of them are.

The top cop, Eddie Compass, has responded by offering all officers
paid vacations to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Yes, that's right - he is pulling
all cops off the street, even while bodies lie in the open. Never in New
York.

Then there's Mayor Ray Nagin, a Democrat, who has blamed everybody but
himself. Maybe he has forgotten his plans for dealing with Katrina.

Last July, his office prepared DVDs warning that, if the city ever had
to be evacuated, residents were on their own. According toa July 24 article
in The Times-Picayune (spotted by the Web's Drudge Report), "Mayor Ray
Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council
President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the
resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without
transportation."

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for
the person next to you," one official said of the message.

And how's this for preparation? Cops were told not to work on the day
Katrina hit, one officer told The New York Times, but "to come in the next
day, to save money on their budget."

By all means, let's investigate what went wrong in New Orleans. Let's
start in City Hall.

Originally published on September 7, 2005

TomCAt wrote:
From a New York Paper. ;;

What paper? Who wrote it?

That's about the fourth time in three days you've done that (although at
least this time you didn't pass it off as your own).

"Bill Sornson" wrote in message
news
TomCAt wrote:
From a New York Paper. ;;

What paper? Who wrote it?

That's about the fourth time in three days you've done that (although at
least this time you didn't pass it off as your own).

================================================== =====

New York Daily News.

NY got cleaned up alot thanks to RUDY GIULIANI, the greatest
mayor ever. Hopefully he'll be president someday and clean up the
rest of the country/world.

Rob


"TomCAt" wrote in message
...
: From a New York Paper. ;;
:
================================================== ========
:
:
:
: Don't blame only feds
:
: Crime rate, inept pols leveled New Orleans before the
storm
:
:
:
: Let's take a break from the joy of Bush bashing to reveal
the dirty
: little secret of New Orleans: Its local government deserves an
F for its
: planning and response to Katrina. And one other thing: The New
Orleans
: police force would be a joke if it weren't a disgrace.
: Yes, I know it's impolitic to say such things while the
suffering in
: the Big Easy is fresh and many cops risked their lives to save
others. But
: now is the time to blow the whistle on the story line being
repeated by rote
: across America: That the federal government ignored New Orleans
because most
: of its residents are black and poor.
:
: That narrative has all the accuracy of a historic novel:
it takes two
: undisputed facts - the feds were slow and New Orleans is
largely black and
: poor - and weaves in pure fiction to make the desired link.
:
: The charge of racism-inspired foot-dragging isn't just
nonsense. It's
: pernicious nonsense, as in destructive and malicious. You know
that's a fact
: because loony Howard Dean, the Democratic Party boss, is now
peddling it.
: He's joined by Jesse Jackson, who said the squalor in New
Orleans "looks
: like the hull of a slave ship." Oh, please.
:
: If even a smidgen of the racism charges are true,
President Bush
: should be shot. But before we give him his blindfold, let's
look at New
: Orleans before Katrina.
:
: Start with crime. That looters ran unchecked after the
hurricane isn't
: surprising when you consider that criminals have had the run of
the city for
: years.
:
: It is a perennial contender for Murder Capital. The 264
homicides last
: year were a drop of only 11 from 2003 - and the first decline
in five years.
:
: New Orleans, with fewer than 500,000 people, had almost
half the
: murders of New York, which had 570 homicides last year in a
city of more
: than 8 million. Put another way, if New York had New Orleans'
murder rate,
: we would have more than 4,200 murders a year.
:
: That the New Orleans police are hardly the Finest was
proven by a
: shocking report yesterday: Nearly a third of New Orleans cops -
some 500 of
: the 1,600 - are now unaccounted for. The department says some
quit, but it
: doesn't know where most of them are.
:
: The top cop, Eddie Compass, has responded by offering all
officers
: paid vacations to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Yes, that's right - he
is pulling
: all cops off the street, even while bodies lie in the open.
Never in New
: York.
:
: Then there's Mayor Ray Nagin, a Democrat, who has blamed
everybody but
: himself. Maybe he has forgotten his plans for dealing with
Katrina.
:
: Last July, his office prepared DVDs warning that, if the
city ever had
: to be evacuated, residents were on their own. According toa
July 24 article
: in The Times-Picayune (spotted by the Web's Drudge Report),
"Mayor Ray
: Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City
Council
: President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does
not have the
: resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people
without
: transportation."
:
: "You're responsible for your safety, and you should be
responsible for
: the person next to you," one official said of the message.
:
: And how's this for preparation? Cops were told not to
work on the day
: Katrina hit, one officer told The New York Times, but "to come
in the next
: day, to save money on their budget."
:
: By all means, let's investigate what went wrong in New
Orleans. Let's
: start in City Hall.
:
: Originally published on September 7, 2005
:
:
:

"~R" wrote in news:8sLTe.8527$9i4.4248
@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

NY got cleaned up alot thanks to RUDY GIULIANI, the greatest
mayor ever. Hopefully he'll be president someday and clean up the
rest of the country/world.

Rob


"TomCAt" wrote in message
...
: From a New York Paper. ;;
:

Take it from someone who knows, Rudy is great but in small doses only. But
you don't have to wait. Rudy can actually be hired to run your town the
way Mexico City hired him. Why not try him out for six months or so and
see how it works out.

As far as non-motorized transportation goes, it was Rudy who boxed
pedestrians behind cages in Midtown Manhattan. It was Mayor Mike who did
more for bicycling in this town than all 20th century mayors combined.

As far as this thread is concerned, what does it have to do with bikes?

--ag