Friday, November 30, 2007

Thirteen-Year-Old Killed

13-year-old Tywonde Jones was stabbed to death last night in the 5000 block of Cordelia Avenue, and about two hours later a man was shot in the chest on a street nearby.

"City police statistics for this year in Baltimore indicate a 16 percent increase in forcible rape, and a 25 percent increase in other sex offenses."

... so Bealefeld says that overall crime in the city is down 7 percent. But homicides, shootings and sex offenses are up. So what's down?

"Youths tried as adults and housed in adult prisons commit more crimes, often more violent ones, than minors who remain in the juvenile justice system, a panel of experts appointed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report."

24 comments:

graham said...

More possible Dixon/Doracon scandal material.

ppatin said...

I saw Martin O'Malley singing at James Joyce last night. I kind of wanted to throw something at him, but I guess that would've gotten me arrested.

taotechuck said...

Did the CDC report take into account that, generally speaking, juveniles who are tried in the adult system have committed a more serious crime and/or have a longer history of criminal activity? Obviously, someone with a predilection for criminal behavior will be more inclined to repeat that behavior.

Maybe next we can do a study about kids who are in gifted programs in high school are more likely to go to college. It's a meaningless study unless you examine why they're in the gifted program (or adult court) in the first place.

Anonymous said...

ppatin: friends of mine sat at the table next to M'OM, which made me glad I wasn't there. They told me that they pointedly got up and left, though, when the governor took the mic and started singing!
P.S. did you win a trip to Ireland?

ppatin said...

Nope, no trip to Ireland for me. Honestly I was surprised that people didn't boo the guy. I mean christ, he just bent us over and violated our pocketbooks and bank accounts. Doesn't this bother anyone?

Sean said...

I may have missed something, so fill me in - What did MO'M do exactly? My understanding was that middle class families would have actually come out ahead under the tax bill he proposed (even with a - GASP! - 1% (that's .01) increase in the sales tax), but that when the General Assembly was done with it, we're all paying more now.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

ppatin said...

Oh please, according to his propaganda most people would've paid less, but that was all a loaf of crap from the get go. That claim ignored the sales tax increase, and he acted as if increased corporate taxes wouldn't trickle down to the rest of us. I wish that someone would have the balls to say that the Thornton plan needs to be gutted. It's an unfunded monstrosity that's eating up the state budget.

ppatin said...

Oh, you've also got to love the fact that while the sales tax was expanded to cover a number of services, one group that won't be taxed are f***ing lawyers. God forbid that we make those parasitic scum pay their fair share.

Sean said...

Shit, ppatin's off his meds again...

Sean said...

Actually, the studies I saw DID account for the minuscule sales tax increase. So I'm curious why you're leveling all the blame at MO'M and not the GA, which passed the final bill, reducing the savings to middle class taxpayers. Wait, are you a corporation? Or a very very rich person? THAT might make sense.

ppatin said...

What's so outrageous about my suggestion that if computer technicians should have to pay a sales tax on the service they provide then lawyers should have to as well?

ppatin said...

1.) I hate the General Assembly just as much as I hate O'Malley.

2.) A 20% increase in the sales tax is not minuscule.

3.) I cannot believe you bought into O'Malley's nonsense about how he'd cut taxes for over 80% of the population while at the same time closing a large budget deficit. That simply defies logic.

4.) Instead of arguing about what taxes to raise we should have been looking to avoid tax increases in the first place.

5.) O'Malley should also have made a harder push for slots. I'm not thrilled about the idea of using slot machines to raise revenue, however we're already surrounded by states that have legal slot machine gambling. Since it's pretty clear that people from this state who play slots are going to do so anways we might as well allow some slots in Maryland and keep the money that's being spent in the state.

John Galt said...

How about a per lie tax on politicians and lawyers (specifically retroactive to BDC/Doracon conversations) ??

It's good that the prosecutor undersands that BDC is the site of much influence-peddling.

John Galt said...

Dixon's sweating the witch hunt.

Hey, if the broomstick fits....

Sean said...

Um... "he just bent us over and violated our pocketbooks and bank accounts"

From the Baltimore Sun:

How will the new tax plan affect you?
Impact of the General Assembly tax plan on family of four earning $100,000 a year:

• Sales tax

Pays $190 more because of the sales tax increase from 5 percent to 6 percent.

• Car purchases

Pays $51 more, assuming that the cost of the titling tax increase from 5 percent to 6 percent is spread over time.

• Income tax

State and local: Saves $248 because the family can claim $3,200 in added exemptions. The income tax rate remains 4.75 percent for such a family.

Federal: Pays $62 more because state taxes are deductible from federal taxes and the family will be deducting less.

Net effect: Pays $55 more

So that's... $4.58 more per month. The horror!

ppatin said...

Sean: That completely ignores the effect that corporate tax increases will have on consumers. Do you really believe that companies don't pass those taxes along to their customers? The estimated sales tax increase also doesn't take into account the fact that more services will now be covered by the sales tax. Also, the Baltimore Sun is full of pro-O'Malley propaganda. I'm sure they deliberately painted the rosiest picture possible.

Anonymous said...

is anyone participating in public safety strategies - as opposed to just complaining about public safety and crime?

ppatin said...

Uh, I go to the police community relations meetings, if I see illegal activity I report it and I try to elect the least bad politicans when there's a city election. Other than that what exactly do you expect people who comment on here to do? Go out and play vigilante?

Anonymous said...

you know what's taxing?

Martin O'Malley's singing.

Anonymous said...

the tax plan is as much O'Malley's as it is the General Assembly's. The vote in the General Assembly would not withstand the Governor's veto. O'Malley could have vetoed it if he didn't like it. He did like it, so he signed the bill. It's really quite simple. And ignorant to say that O'Malley does not deserve credit/fault for the tax package.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone think that this will inspire more people to use services that don't necessarily require taxes (ie: online purchasing services)?

And since when is it my problem that a lot of people can't afford health insurance?

The paternal state that maryland is trying to become is making me sick to my stomach.

And Ppatin, wait until they outlaw the death penalty here (don't act like that day isn't coming...)

ppatin said...

Cynic: Getting rid of the death penalty in itself won't make any difference. I mean we've had thousands of murders in the past 25 years and a grand total of five executions, and one of those was really more of a state-assisted suicide. The big problem is that the stupid hippies won't stop there. The moment that capital punishment goes they'll demand more "rehabilitation," parole guidelines will be loosened, and they'll try to eliminate life w/o parole. That's why it's worth have a death penalty statute even if we only have an execution once every ten years. The soft on crime crowd will focus their energies on fighting capital punishment, rather than watering down other laws.

ppatin said...

Even more stupidity.

Landlords in MoCo and HoCo are being forced to accept Section 8 tenants, and now they want to force a similar law on the entire state. The General Assembly is probably stupid enough to actually pass that kind of a law.

Carol Ott said...

Yes, anonymous, I think it's safe to say that most of us here do quite a bit to make our communities safer. At least try to, anyway. But when you're fighting against a city government and state prosecutor who really doesn't give a crap, sometimes it's a little frustrating.