Berkeley Town Council Hates Marines

The Berkeley town council told the USMC they are not welcome in Berkeley. How far removed from reality do you have to be to treat the military this way? I am sure this is nothing that fending for yourself for a year or so in Liberia wouldn't cure. If only there were a way to make this happen.

How To Seem Like A Drunkard

From Modern Drunkard Magazine:

6. Have blackouts. A well-placed phone call works wonders. Ring up your drinking buddy the next day (early afternoon is best) and ask him how you got home last night and if he knows where your other shoe is. When you show up for the next big night and he remarks on how you seem to have found your other shoe, immediately get a new drinking buddy, as this one, judging by how much attention he pays to shoes, is obviously gay. If you already knew he was gay, tell him you just loved them so much you had to run out and buy a replacement pair. He will respect this.

I'll share with you my new favorite beverage for those times that don't rise to the demands of a fine single malt: Campari and soda. Campari is one of those things that's like nothing else. It's bitterer than Al Gore yet much, much more interesting.

a single sheet of paper

I received an email yesterday about a show that was supposed to be at the Hirshhorn Museum of Art in Washington DC. (It's part of the Smithsonian.) According to the email, it was a contest and all the entries were to be made from a single sheet of paper.


I couldn't find anything about the show at the Hishhorn's site. Apparently, there wasn't any contest.

All the works were done by a single artist - Peter Callesen. To my mind, that's even more amazing. The above piece is called Distant Wish.

Go here. Check out the rest of his stuff. Seriously cool.

Movie Review: Michael Clayton

My brief review: An excellent movie, go see it.
For an actual review, read Pulitzer Prize recipient Rodger Ebert, I pretty much agree with his take and would only offer the following.
First, a brief synopsis from Yahoo Movies:

Michael Clayton is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach.
Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

Great cast, great story, great script and deft film making combine to make an engaging film that never preaches and still manages to surprise. I love the themes running through the film, the foreshadowing of things great and small, the choices people make and the recriminations they have to live with. All things considered, one of the better movies of 2007, right up there with No Country For Old Men.

Johan Santana Going to The Mets

Perfect. Johan Santana is probably going to the hapless New York Mets where he will bother us no more. We didn't give up three or four solid prospects for an admittedly great but waaaay over priced left handed pitcher. Neither did the Yankees. Good luck in the Big Apple Johan, you'll find it's a tad different than the Twin Cities.

Gigantic Fly Fishing

Wouldn't be a blast to tie a huge fly that looked like a seal and tie it on a titanium tippet and go out for some really big fish? Of course you would need a non-existent 23 weight rod and arms the size of Paul Bunyan's to cast it, retrieve it and reel the fish in, but the idea is still sound.

More shark pictures here.

Bill Clinton a Horse's Ass?

I always thought so.

Questionable Advice in Esquire Magazine

Four women deign to tell clueless men when we may help them:

A woman is lugging a large suitcase through the airport. Do we offer to help?
Katherine: I think a good rule of thumb is, if it looks like we're struggling, offer to help -- we'll really appreciate it.
Alyssa: As much as I want to be pro-feminist and able-bodied, if I'm carrying something heavy, help a girl out.

Translation, as much as I squawk about principles, I'll abandon them when inconvenient. Shouldn't common courtesy be common sense?

"George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party"

Peggy Noonan excoriates President Bush in the Wall Street Journal.

... George W. Bush destroyed the Republican Party, by which I mean he sundered it, broke its constituent pieces apart and set them against each other. He did this on spending, the size of government, war, the ability to prosecute war, immigration and other issues...

Riiiight. He "broke its constituent pieces apart and set then against each other"? What does that even mean? Can she give an example?

I agree President Bush didn't do enough to control spending but the single biggest program leading to the increase in spending is the prescription drug benefit. During the 2000 campaign, then candidate Bush promised to push that legislation through. I seem to recall Ms. Noonan was very much a Bush supporter back then. Didn't she know what would happen if he kept his promise?

As far as the immigration issue is concerned, Ms. Noonan's employer was on the president's side of that battle. So, if that's part of what has destroyed the GOP, maybe Ms. Noonan should start redirecting her fire. The Wall Street Journal is going to be around for a lot longer than President Bush.

Or maybe instead we need a party that's strong enough to withstand disagreement and stop looking for scapegoats. I thought we were supposed to be a "big tent". Ms. Noonan is basically doing the same thing Brooks, Limbaugh and the rest are doing. She just has a different target.

Somebody Needs To Be Fired

LUTHER, Okla. A local father has expressed concern over allegations that classes at his son's school have turned into Movie Appreciation 101. When Justin -- who asked not to be identified -- started asking his son for a list of lessons learned at Luther High School, his ninth-grader rattled off a list of new releases. "'The Simpsons Movie' was on there, which I whole-heartedly disapprove of," Justin said.
Justin's son told him he had watched about 46 hours of movies in various classes since October. Several of the movies were rated R, he said.

Maybe this is why Johnny can't read, lazy teachers. If this were to happen here in West Hartford, heads would roll in gutters red with blood and rightfully so. A movie, now and then, especially if it's a great movie, can be a good thing. Saving Private Ryan while a great film and teachable may be a poor choice for freshmen in this day of sissified parents and children. As much as I love the Simpsons, I see no reason to show that film in an educational environment. What do you think of these films being shown in your kids school?

• Saving Private Ryan - great flick probably too intense though.
• Spider Man 3 - remember when comic books in school were confiscated and tossed out?
• The Mummy - not bad, hardly educational.
• The Simpsons Movie - Spider Pig?
• Dodgeball - they must be kidding.
• Home Alone 3 - they must be kidding still.
• Robin Hood, Men In Tights - alright, that's enough kidding.
• The Sandlot - the kids would be better off playing in one, instead of watching it.
• Men In Black - I like this movie, but it has no place in school.
• Seabiscuit - very good movie, perhaps teachable.
• The Tuxedo - cruel and unusually bad punishment.
• Cinderella Man - very good movie, perhaps teachable, maybe they did a unit on the Great Depression.
• Rocky - good film, kids were probably jabbing each other and trying to break ribs.
• Air Force One - why?
• Napoleon Dynamite - again why?
• Gridiron Gang - again the kids would be better off playing the sport when not studying.
• Dr. Doolittle - I doubt Rex Harrison was in this one, the new one sucked.
• Remember The Titans - yet again the kids would be better off being active.
• Radio - watch and learn kiddos, at this rate this is your future.
• Beowulf - one of my favorite books, which takes about as long to read as seeing a movie.

Dana Jacobson Drunken Rant

Dana Jacobson co-host of the "ESPN First Take" morning show, stepped in it with both feet recently at a roast for ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike on January 11 by allegedly saying,

"“f**k Notre dame”

“f**k touchdown Jesus”

" step-aside-because-lightning-is-about-to-strike… “f**k Jesus".

That's some funny, funny stuff. Now the Christian Defense Coalition is calling for her ouster in front of ESPN's Bristol headquarters. As much as I disagree with Jacobson's sentiments, I think this may be a bit drastic. Granted, if she had said, f--- the Jews or f--- the n-word or f--- any other religious or ethnic group the reaction would have been the same, only the faces in the angry mob would be different.

Two things make me want to let her off the hook. First, it's not like she said this on the air. What people say or do at their place of work or their personal lives has a much lower standard than what we allow them to broadcast into our homes. Secondly, she's a relatively attractive woman in her late thirties who was out at a party swilling Belvedere Vodka, barely in control of herself. I have always enjoyed such people. I think a weeks suspension, a ton of grief, several tearful pleas for forgiveness, five Hail Marys and ten Our Fathers ought to do the trick.

Kucinich Quits

Democrat Dennis Kucinich is abandoning his second, long-shot bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold onto his other job — U.S. congressman....

At a debate last October, Kucinich delivered one of the night's lighter moments when he confirmed seeing an unidentified flying object at the Washington state home of actress Shirley MacLaine. With a smile, he said he would open a campaign office in Roswell, N.M., home to many alleged UFO sightings. Yahoo News

Thank God. The fact that anyone could imagine this creature for any level of government scares the hell out of me.

Martin Gilbert's Winston Churchill

If it wasn't for Booknotes on CSPAN 3 I wouldn't know what to read, fortunately on the 178,385,346,756,526,324 day God created Brian Lamb and subsequently gave me a predilection for caffeinated beverages. I love the format of Booknotes, it's just Brian Lamb, an author on a nondescript set, talking about a book. Lamb is the most self effacing, almost laconic interviewer you're ever likely to see on TV. It's never about him, it's always about the book, the subject, the author on how the author chose the subject of the book. For lazy bastards like me it's often a suitable substitute for actual reading.

The other night they aired the interview with Martin Gilbert on his one volume biography of Winston Churchill. So far it's a great read, but of course it's easy to be interesting when writing about the greatest man in the 20th century. When reading about Churchill you almost get the feeling that everything in his long, interesting life was designed to prepare him to rally the forces of Democracy to oppose Nazi Germany.

Winston Churchill died this day in 1965. When I was in England in 1992, I visited Churchill's grave at St. Martins Church Bladon, Oxfordshire - not far from Churchills ancestral home at Blenheim Palace. It's a little Cotswold stone church with a humble little grave devoid of pretense, pomp or security with a smattering of ash trees about.

Joe For Oil, Food Shortages In Venezuela

There are rampant food shortages in Venezuela for staples like meat, milk, eggs and sugar yet somehow the poor people of this unfortunate nation can still subsidize Joseph Kennedy's Joe-For-Oil program for comparatively wealthier people in the USA.
Oddly enough the price controls imposed by Kennedy chum Hugo Chavez have not solved the shortages.

Fred Thompson Is Out

I am disgusted with Fred Thompson for not running a better campaign. He should have taken a hard look at the RINOS and the likely Democratic nominees and fought tooth and nail as if this election matters, because it damn sure does. Do you want three or four supreme court justices appointed by Hillary Clinton? Do you want her to fix health care, the economy, or the sub prime mortgage mess by invalidating tens of thousands of legally binding contracts? I don't even want to think about how she or Obama would handle the war against Islamic extremism. I weep for the future.

Bill Clinton Has A Dream

Hardly original I know, but funny nonetheless. I wonder if we will see this in the filthy liberal MSM?

Cabelas Disappoints

I've been to the new Cabelas giant retail store in East Hartford several times now and I have to admit I am disappointed. It's a beautiful store with a veritable zoo of stuffed animals some in their own ecosystems and aquariums full of trout. The problem lies in the little things, details in some cases, poor customer service and their pricing.
Cabelas seems a little pricey to me and it's hard to buy clothing there that isn't emblazoned with the Cabelas logo. For example, the "Bargain Cave" at Cabelas is anything but. There they sell returned, repaired or damaged $670 fly rods for $630, some bargain. What's worse is there is no return on these items. Why would I buy a $670 fly rod that normally comes with a lifetime guarantee for $630 if that means it's used or maybe damaged and is sold "as is" without warranty? The cranky old bastard behind the counter in the "Bargain Cave" couldn't be bothered to explain.
Then there are the little things:

• The last two times I went, the kids shooting gallery was completely out of order greatly dissapointing los ninos.
• We ate buffalo burgers at the cafe which were pricey, lousy, cold and over cooked. never again.
• I went to return a defective safe and not once, but twice the head cashier, Roseanne Barr's less attractive and more clamorous sister, interrupted the cashier handling my return to complain about how busy it was and when he should take his break.

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the excellence of LL Bean, but it seems to me that Cabelas had better fine tune their game or go back to Hooterville.

New York Vs. New England

The New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII, not that I care that much about football one way or the other. But since most Giants Fans are probably Yankees fans, I will enjoy the piquancy of their winter agony as much as their October agony. A 19-0 season will be pretty impressive as well. That is all.

"Bylines of Brutality"

Iowahawk, perhaps inspired by a recent NY Times series about vets returning from Iraq, examines another troubling trend.

He's followed up his investigative piece with a public service project:

A Man Can Dream Can't He?

It's 17 degrees Fahrenheit, -3 with the windchill. I haven't seen trout in more than two months that wasn't looking up at me from a plate, pitchers and catchers don't report for another 26 days. I need a break.

Hat Tip The J-Walk Blog.

Moral Bankruptcy Posing as Art: Roman Polanski

Marina Zenovich has made a film about Roman Polanski's sexual abuse of a 13 year old girl in 1977.

Zenovich told Reuters her documentary does not apologize for the French-Polish director, but her take on the murky justice and media hype around the Polanski case might make Americans see him in a different light after he was vilified in the 1970s for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

No apologies required, but do we really need a sympathetic film about a man who drugged, raped and sodomized a 13 year old girl? For those of you who unclear on exactly what happened can find out here. My two cents, he belongs in France.

I'm a Fredhead

Today's do or die for Fred. If he doesn't get a win in South Carolina, it's over. A lot of people have been second guessing the way he's run his candidacy. Much of the criticism is justified. Even so, it's more than a little depressing how much traction a guy like Huckabee has gotten while Fred continues to languish in the polls.

In the American Spectator  Quin Hillyer makes good argument for why he's with Fred. He starts with a purely parochial consideration:

Think of it this way: In every Republican presidential contest beginning in 1980, South Carolina has chosen the winner... but, and this is a very big "but"... it always has been forced to choose from a field already narrowed by the two smaller, front-running states. In effect, South Carolina was told it could take the Iowa winner or the New Hampshire winner, but nobody else.

But this time could be different. This time South Carolina could drive a stake through the two-headed Dracula once and for all by choosing its own candidate to push to the fore. When New Hampshire saved George H.W. Bush's candidacy in 1988, he publicly thanked the state a full nine months later when he won the general election, and New Hampshire enjoyed disproportionate influence during his presidency. If South Carolina chooses its own candidate this time, and he goes on to win, November's final election night could hear that candidate say "Thank you, South Carolina" in front of all the world...

Check it out. It's well worth your time.

Dexter Was Right

What do you know, a HRC bumper sticker I might actually apply.

Kids Hate Clowns

No kidding. I hated clowns as a kid and don't like them too much as an adult either. Anyone who dresses up like a clown is not to be trusted with children or small animals.

Morgellon's Disease is Back in The News

The CDC is paying Kaiser Permanente $338,000 to study the curious phenomenon know as Morgellon's Disease. I wonder what percentage of Morgellon Disease sufferers have used used crystal methamphetamine?

I Dig The Wig

Ralph Wiggum would still be a better president than any of the real Democrats.

Hat Tip: Scooter

Choices 2008 Election

The more I look at choices for POTUS in 2008 the less I can imagine any of the Democratic candidates as president.

• Hillary Clinton, I despise her, but admire her discipline and ruthlessness. I could go on and on why she is the worst thing since paper cuts and dead childhood pets but Christopher Hitchens is much better at this sort of thing, so go read his take on her here.


• Barack Obama, I'll give him credit for the way he's running as a man of achievement, not a black man of achievement. The absence of race issues, so far, in his candidacy augers well for our Republic. Never let anyone tell you we are an intolerant nation when seven years after 9/11 a man named Barack Hussein Obama, educated, in part, in an Indonesian Madras is in the running for POTUS. As to whether or not his achievements qualify him for president is questionable. I know his stated policies are about as fresh as a Foghat concert or Roy Munson antics. His dearth of Washington experience is either his best attribute or his worst. He's a likable guy, I just wish he wasn't a Jimmy Carter redux.


• John Edwards, Roy Munson will be President before this haircut. The problem with many of these Democratic candidates is that policy wise they are all the same. They only differ to the extent that they are willing to pander to the extremes of the anti war crowd.


• Mike Gravel, he's a pure socialist in socialist's clothing best known for his opposition to the War in Vietnam. We needn't worry about him getting the nomination, thank God.


• Dennis Kucinich, he's my favorite Democratic candidate. Say what you want about his nebbish appearance, bizarre policies and whackadoo supporters, at least Kucinich believes all the bullshit he espouses. Which is exactly why he's unsuitable for office. That, and he was the Mayor of Cleveland where he dammed near ran that infelicitous polis to new subterranean depths not seen since Dante's unpublished sequel to the Inferno..

On the Republican side you have a much broader divergence of policy and opinions.

• Mike Huckabee is like a Democrat who found religion and could no longer truck with the party that has enshrined abortion as a central tenant of their faith. He's soft on crime as evidenced by his plethora of pardons and is a dreaded tax and spend dweeb like Jimmy Carter. He plays the class card with all the shame of an ambulance chasing Democrat. Huckabee is very personable, perhaps too much so. He looks like someone you might like and trust and probably is both likable and trustworthy, it's just that his politics are all wrong. He really ought to be running as a Democrat.


• Rudy Giuliani in a way is the anti Mike Huckabee. Where Huckabee is soft on crime, Rudy is tough. Where Huckabee is religious with all that comes with that, Giuliani is decidedly not. Rudy is likeable to the extant that you'd rather have him on the inside pissing out than on the outside pissing in. I could live with Rudy as President because I know he'll kick the tarter sauce out of anyone that screws with us. His shady 2nd Amendment record an pro abortion stances are anathema to me though.


• Mitt Romney is an able executive and likely nominee. He is also about as genuine as a Bill Clinton apology. Like another tall haircut from the Peoples Republic, his flipped and the flopped on some pretty big issues, gun control, abortion, gay marriage, etc. I'll vote for this yahoo if it comes to it, but I'd rather not.


• John McCain, as a patriot I admire John McCain's service to America and the faith he kept while a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He has earned the right to be taken seriously, then he squandered it with the abomination known as McCain Feingold Law. Not to seem vindictive, but I will not empower those who seek to dis-empower me by preventing me from criticizing them. This is a bad, anti democratic law and McCain should know better. Some tire of McCain's maverick routine. I can live with that, especially since I believe him to be serious on the war agianst Islamic extremism.


• Ron Paul, right message, wrong messenger. I am very keen to listen to what Libertarians have to say, unfortunately Ron Paul is unelectable, a tad bat shit and his supporters tend to be the sort of people who believe in their libertarian ideals but not your liberty to disagree with them.
• Fred Thompson, is my man. I only wish he had been better funded and more energetic from jump. I'll vote for him and fund his candidacy, but I will be greatly surprised and delighted if he ends up as the GOP nominee.

Human Events Endorses Fred Thompson

You can read the whole thing here, in short they analyzed all the candidates and Fred Thompson is the most genuinely conservative. Big shock that.

Fred Thompson Knocks One Out Of The Park

More of this please.

Bill Richardson Drops Out

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson fresh from inspiring several dozen people across America to vote for him has dropped out of the race for President of the United States.
Richardson is a decent guy, but he was way out of his league, even in this field of lightweights.

"I Found My Own Voice"

Geez, could you keep looking and find another that doesn't sound like nails on a blackboard?

Hillary Clinton Meets Ed Muskie

The first time we see genuine emotion from Hillary Clinton, other than rage or hatred, and it's tears over how tough the campaign trail is and how she passionately believes in what shes doing, not very presidential.

My first reaction is that it's kind of refreshing, and dare I say endearing, to see her acting in an uncalculated way, my immediate second reaction is that she just punctured the myth of HRC invincibility for good. Fork in the butt time, she's done.

Separated at Birth?

Mike Huckabee and Gomer Pyle

Why Huckabee Must Lose

Perhaps more importantly than any doctrinal issues that I have with Huckabee, and there are many, I feel he needs to crash and burn because he is the only top four Iowa finisher that can be easily beaten by Obama, Edwards or HRC. Come November, if Obama faces off against Huckabee in the general election, Obama will enjoy MSM press coverage that make him seem like the second comming of warm, sliced bread. Huckabee will be shocked to learn that all his "friends" in the media despise everything he stands for and only went easy on him because they knew he'd lose in the general election.
I don't like Mitt Romney because I don't find him genuine, but he and every other major GOP candidate would make a better president than Barack Obama. The challenge the GOP faces is to ensure that we don't field a weaker candidate than the Dems do. This shouldn't be hard, but I fear it will be.

Biden Bites The Dust

The preferred and apparently permanent home to numerous unsightly hair plugs, Joe Biden, has ended his gambit for the Democratic presidential nomination after getting fewer votes in the Democratic Caucuses than Pat Buchanan.
I joke of course, Biden enjoyed 23 votes, 22 more than Chris Dodd who only got 1. Uncommitted received 3. As far as I know Pat Buchanan received no votes in Iowa, he'll probably do better in Florida.

Miss Inevitability No More

Obama wins in Iowa 37.53, Hillary comes in third 29.41. Does this mean her candidacy is not inevitable? I know it's early but that's gotta hurt.

I Injected, I Plunged, But It Wasn't Steroids

Roger Clemens says that he did take injections from Brian McNamee but they weren't steroids only lidocaine and the vitamin B-12. McNamee they guy injecting him says Clemens used steroids. Who do you believe? BTW, when Clemens left the Red Sox in a huff in 1996 his ERA was 3.63 and he was 34 years old. In 1997 a trim 35 year old Clemens pitching for Toronto lowered his ERA to 2.05. Did he discover a new pitch or develop a work ethic? I'd be interested to know exactly when McNamee was injecting Clemens.

Dodd Drops Out

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Ipsa Qvidem Pretivm Virtvs Sibi

American Armed Forces do well by doing right in Iraq.
Hat Tip: Insty

Joe Torre: Profile in Courage

Former Yankee skipper and stand up guy Joe Torre won't pick sides or comment on the whole Roger Clemens steroid debacle. I understand that when one friend tosses pointy objects at another friend's coconut, one can't really win by taking sides. On the other hand, steroids are the worst kept secret in sports and it beggars belief to think that Torre had no knowledge or suspicions until the Mitchell Report.

Fred Thompson: You Had Me At Hello

I said it before, I'll say it again; I'll vote for any of the Republican candidates over any of the Democrats. Of the Republicans, Fred Thompson is the closest thing to a true Reagan conservative.
What are the important issues facing our Republic? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Immigration, Social Security Reform, Tax Reform, Gun Control, Abortion and Health Care Reform. Fred Thompson positions on all these issues are, in my estimation, correct. Accordingly, WMTN endorses the candidacy of Fred Thompson for President of The United States.
The strongest candidate the Democrats have is Hillary Clinton. Even if I agreed with her on all the issues, which I don't, I couldn't vote for her because I think her personality is far too polarizing.
Barrack Obama seems like a genial chap, but this is no time for on the job training. The rest of the Dems pack is pretty lame, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson whose stupid comments on Pakistan after the Bhutto assassination are a national embarrassment. Can you really imagine a world where any of these people would be your first choice for POTUS?
Mike Huckabee is getting a soft ride right now because the MSM would love to see him be the GOP's choice in November when his manifold weaknesses will be rediscovered with a vengeance. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he is no conservative.
Rudy Giuliani would be a tough, no nonsense chief executive, but his positions on abortion and gun control just don't fly for this Republican. And like HRC he has the tendency to be needlessly polarizing.
Mitt Romney just doesn't strike me as genuine and his positions on the 2nd amendment have recently been discovered. It seems the air in Boston causes flips and subsequent flops.

Hannah Montana Dead Dad Scam

I think this woman and her unlucky child should be sentenced to clean bed pans at a VA hospital for 40 hours. For starters.

I Blame George Bush: Murder Rate Soars in New Orleans

The bloodiest city in the country in 2006, reeling from crime in its struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina, got even worse in 2007.
New Orleans registered 209 homicides last year, a nearly 30 percent increase from the 161 recorded in 2006.
The FBI's rankings for 2007 will not be out until much later in the year, but New Orleans' population is thought to be 295,450, which would mean a rate of about 71 homicides per 100,000 people.
Even the most generous population estimate in 2006 put the number of people in the city that year at 255,000. That meant a real homicide rate of 63.5 per 100,000 residents.
To compare that number with some other notoriously bloody cities, the rate for
Gary, Ind., was 48.3 and Detroit's was 47.1.

You see! If evil GWB hadn't allowed the hurricane to destroy New Orleans and personally chased most of the population away, New Orleans wouldn't have such astronomical murder statistics.