Some random things to note:
1)The WIP Primary. If Angelo and the morning crew are any indication, Obama is going to do pretty well in the white guy from Philly demographic. For those who don't know, following the Rev. Wright controversey, Obama went on 610 WIP (Sports talk) morning show, and became buddies with the morning crew. This morning, he was back on again. Smart move for Obama.
There is probably very little that could brand you as acceptable to a middle-class to working-class white guy in Philly than to have Angelo constantly singing your praises.
2) My favorite guy, and likely next State Senator, John Dougherty is emailing around a poll showing him ahead of Anne Dicker and Larry Farnese. I will have more on Doc later today, because the ethics board responded to his stupid campaign finance challenge with a brief that basically destroys him.
But, anyway, for now Doc says it goes like this (last month in parenthesis):
Dougherty: 31 (14)
Dicker: 18 (13)
Farnese: 14 (4)
Undecided: 37
The earlier numbers are with Fumo in the race, so, Larry seems to have benefited the most from the exit of Fumo. If people want to beat Doc, given his lead, the only way it seems possible is to somehow pick between Larry and Anne. I have some, uh, personal experience with that type of scenario, and I can tell you how unlikely that is. And, progressive groups are already split (like Philly for Change vs. Liberty City).
Meanwhile, for Doc, rumors about grand juries swirl, and Farnese is about to hit him directly with corruption stuff.
3) We're number 1, we're number 1! Oh, crap, number one for this:
Philadelphia has the highest rate of incarceration in jails in the country, according to a new study from the Justice Policy Institute.
In Philadelphia county, 602 people were in jail for every 100,000 in 2006, according to "Jailing Communities: The Impact of Jail Expansion and Effective Public Safety," a study by the institute, a Washington, D.C., criminal-justice think tank. That's up from 369 per 100,000 in 1996, the study says.
Two Tennessee counties followed Philadelphia: Davidson (includes Nashville), with 596 per 100,000, and Shelby (includes Memphis), with 594.
Obviously, that is a shockingly high number. However, we might not really be number one, because the article ignores that it is misleading to compare Philly to other counties in the US. The article- certainly the headline at least- really wants it to look like Philly is special. But frankly, we do not know that to be the case.
If I am not mistaken, we are either the only, or one of the only Counties, to have its borders exactly match the City borders. So, Pittsburgh might be just as bad, but the suburbs of Allegheny County will help their numbers. Same goes for Detroit, et. al.
If we really want to see how Philly stacks up, we would need to see a City, not County, comparison. The article itself- talking about the overall rise- is important. But, c'mon Daily News, if that is your headline, you should at least acknowledge the obvious: as a City (who thinks of us as a County, anyway), we might not actually be number one.
Great American City
Isn't the US #1 in Incarcerations overall, worldwide?
If that's true, I guess this statistic just shows that Philadelphia is the great American City we've been saying it is all along.
---
For Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Nomination for President.
This Too Will Pass, treating grave matters lightly and light matters gravely.
Actually, points 2 and 3 are related
Yes, Brady, the U.S. recently earned the #1 spot for the highest incarceration rate IN THE WORLD. About 1% of our adult population is currently behind bars.
Which made me think about how Dan's #2 and #3 (and of course #1) points are all related...what are the various candidates saying about our CJ system?
Two years ago, when Farnese was running for the 182nd, I witnessed a pretty heated altercation between him and Angel Ortiz at an ADA meeting. Farnese was arguing IN FAVOR of mandatory minimum sentences, despite evidence (and Angel Ortiz's opinion) that they did nothing more than increase our prison population. I would agree that that's hardly a "progressive" position. I'm not sure if Larry is still advocating for mandatory minimums, but it's something these candidates should start addressing.
So this is a challenge to the State Senate candidates for the 1st: tell us what you think is the best way to deal with people who break the law. Should we just keep building more prisons? I would particularly like to hear what you think about drug-related offenses (it is my dissertation topic after all, so something I have been intimately engaged with for, ahem,...some years now).
And we don't just jail 'em all...
We also kill 'em all! That's right, despite the almost complete lack of evidence that the death penalty reduces crime by even the tiniest bit, along with some evidence that it increases it, we continue to execute more people than any country other than China (I believe).
-Z
Farnese's ad and the NLRB
I read the article on the Farnese ad and I was surprised at Larry’s manipulation of the NLRB’s findings regarding IBEW Local 98. The fact that Farnese attacks John Dougherty’s Local for violations of the National Labor Relations Act ignores the last eight years of anti-worker rulings under the Bush Labor Board. Unions, like mine and Dougherty’s, have been under a constant onslaught of rulings in favor of management that seek to undermine our hard fought wages and standards. The fact that Local 98 has been cited by the NLRB for violations only means that his Local has been aggressively seeking to organize new workers and protect their wages and standards. I read the decision on Local 98’s ‘so-called’ violations and under previous Labor Board’s their acts would not have been a violation of the law. I have had my share of disagreements with John Dougherty, but Farnese’s manipulation of the anti-worker Bush Board’s decision gives aid and comfort to the enemies of working people.