Dirty Politics

Swift Boat donor's appointment sidesteps Congress

What did you do during recess?

Youth Violence

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:36-38

With the spike in youth violence that has happened in the past two years in Boston, many have stormed City Hall asking for more Police, and chastise parents for not keeping control of there children. But according to Harvard's Youth Violence Prevention Center, one on one, or small group interaction, with youth 6 to 8 can have a dramatic effect on curbing youth violence.

Perhaps instead of looking to the city to clean up our streets, we should look at ourselves and find a child to invest in.

NPR interview with Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, director of programs at Harvard's Youth Violence Prevention Center

For a theory on how the spike in violence in the early 1990's was stopped you should check out the book Freakonomics. I won't spoil the book for you.

The Lumberjack Song

I can't think of a better way to start the work week.
Enjoy.

Executive privilege

It seams as though President Bush is claiming Executive Privilege a lot lately. In case if you didn't know what that is, John Hodgman explains it all in this video.

The Red Coats are Coming!!!!!

The Red Coats are Coming, but this time its not the British but the Guardian Angels. Their bringing there civilian street justice to Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and JP.
The Mayor and the Police Commissioner aren't exactly thrilled about it either.

I have my concerns, but there are two big problems with Boston crime that they might actually be able to help with. First, the Boston police force is understaffed. With the influx of GA patrolling the streets we'll finally get a presence that could deter crime. Secondly, there is a serious distrust of the police in Boston's minority neighborhoods. If the GA are able to engage the community and gain there trust they might be able to help.

On the other hand I don't exactly feel more comforted knowing that they are there. They have been criticized by some for being a vigilante force. The last thing we need on the streets of Boston is more violence to stop violence.

Boston Police

If you have been riding the T lately I'm sure you have seen the recruiting advertisements for the Boston Police. Boston is in desperate need for more police on the streets, there have been 13 murders this year compared to 7 at this time last year. Unfortunately the $100,000 ad campaign is isn't helping very much.

On a good note they are seeing more minority's showing interest in the police force. Given the tense relationship between the community's of Dorchester and Roxbury with the police, more minority police couldn't hurt.

Blogging the Bible

David Plotz from the slate has been blogging the bible for some time now. He has worked his way up to Proverbs now. You should check it out.