I think we have to deal with the primary problem in Yemen, which is western and Saudi intervention, which are likely also helped contaminate the environment in the first place (over and above the type of gas they use). Much like the concentration of poverty in American cities, people don’t want to live in places that poison their children, they just often have little choice in the matter.
I think there are probably lots of reasons for a decrease in crime in Germany that aren’t just removing lead from gasoline. It’s also great to live in a developed country that doesn’t have a stigma against employing government to help fix various social problems. It’s also helpful that they have a thriving economy and no fear of taxation to help pay for dealing with environmental problems.
Just in case someone gets out the “the stats are done up to look good”, let’s remind them that they have been published by Horst Seehofer, who is on the right wing of the conservatives and who probably would love nothing more to push for more law&order or get another argument for keeping foreigners out…
Trump is an avatar of anti-truth. If he says it, then we know for certain that it is untrue, and we can be pretty sure that the opposite is true. If Trump announced that the sun rose in the east, and I did not immediately thereafter discover that I had been transplanted to an alien retrograde planet, my faith in the universe would be deeply shaken.
The nice thing about lead/homicide is that we have really good data and a series of natural experiments. Most homicides, even in developing countries, have their location recorded. People have also been tracking gasoline uses for a huge number of reasons. We also have clear start and stop dates for the introduction and removal of TEL. We also have clear biological processes with pretty reliable medical tests. I think Rick Nevin’s paper gives some of the best explanations for teasing out the factors, and while I think he got the magnitude of the effect wrong, it seems to be a real and strong effect.
Quite.
I figured that whatever she’s being driven around in had to be an Audi A8, BMW 7 series or Merc S class - I didn’t even look. “Driver, do NOT stop for that particular pedestrian!”
Went down a small rabbit hole when googling just now. Looks like she’s been asked why her cars are not electric/hybrid, and the answer was that her cars are armored and it’s not available. Per google translate.
It’s a bit too close to my family though. My uncle still works there.
Maybe we should send him here instead.
It is technically in the neighbouring parish to the one his mother was born in, so he should be able to feel proud of his heritage while being far away enough that he doesn’t bother anyone.
Trump frequently reverses facts (e.g. Canada having a trade deficit with the US gets described as a trade surplus). So obviously he’s upset about their low crime rate. Damn those dirty immigrants, decreasing crime rates in countries around the world.
It should be mentioned that these statistics are based on the numbers of suspects that the police report to the state attorneys’ office. not the number of suspects who are actually in due course brought to trial or even convicted. This essentially means that, for example, when somebody at a demonstration throws stones at the police and the police go in and arrest 100 people in order to figure out who did what, the official crime statistics will contain 100 cases of breaking the peace even though the actual number of perpetrators is probably a lot lower.
Some people like to claim that refugees commit lots of crimes but for the most part that doesn’t seem to be the case. When refugees have a run-in with the police, it is most often either for petty theft or else fights among refugees inside refugee accommodations, rather than serious crimes such as assault, rape, or murder. On the whole, refugees seem to be less criminally active than non-refugees, although there are obvious exceptions (today saw the beginning of a high-profile murder trial where the accused is a refugee) and many refugees are young males, who even among native Germans tend to be more prone to crimes than the general public. This is not trivial to pin down because “refugee” is not a status that shows up in the police crime statistics, which only distinguish between German citizens (possibly of foreign extraction) and non-citizens (which would include, e.g, tourists, business travellers, foreign students, legal aliens from all over the world, and of course refugees).
Successfully governing one of the large and economically important states isn’t exactly hard times, though the Baden-Württemberg Greens are headed by a staunch conservative branch of the Greens (and the party is divided over it, of course).
You know, Baden-Württemberg. Home of Daimler, Porsche, Audi, Bosch, just to name a few. The greens.
After continuous rule of the CDU since the war. Quite successfully. German conservatives (the ones not in the Green party) are still rubbing their eyes.
The important bit is “high profile” here.
The reason it is highly covered is that this case is used by the far right to highlight criminal offence by refugees. Or, if you tell the story differently, that the German public is systematically and inherently racist and thus more interested in any case where refugees are involved.
Come to Munich, and I will show you just how good the food and beer is. Even better, we can go to Bamberg, which has some of the best beer and wine and Braten and Bratwurst. Well, the region around Bamberg, as Bayreuth, Coburg and Würzburg are also culinary temples not to be missed.
Disclosure: I am a Yankee enjoying my exile here in Bavaria. Came here in 1988, and never left.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and your later statement about crime feeling a thousand times higher? Total bullshit. Crime is almost never a topic, but then again I don’t hang out with AfD voters and other PEGIDA losers. Their “protests” here in Munich draw less of a crowd than your average street preacher. The only ones who I have heard say it are elderly women, who have been saying that since the dawn of man.
I was watching ZDF Morgenmagazin this morning, and they actually did a good example of sandwiching Trump’s latest utterance, by first mentioning the news of crime hitting a new low, then Trump’s tweet, and then joking about him having (ahem) a different point of view. Mitri got as close as calling him a delusional liar as he tactfully could.
