The Truth

As usual that guy on Toulouse Street puts into words better than I could about the rampant crime spree going on in NOLA:

we are living with the product of the second and third generation of people who have given up.

The same hollow eyes and gunman swagger you see in Somali pirates on the evening news, that’s what you can expect when culture and government and all of the things that make a civilization start to break down, and people just give up and do what they have to do to survive. And when the parents have given up, when they accept the street as the way it is, you start down the road that turns out the young men who jack ships off East Afraica and who stalk our own streets.

We have all spent and given too much to be here to walk away now. So which side are you on, boys, which side are you on? Will you run to the Northshore, or add some iron and lights to the house and never venture out? Or is it time to stand up and demand immediate action and results, or dire consequences, for Riley and his boss Ray Nagin and from the entire city government

If you enjoy Mark's writing, may I suggest you pick up is book Carry Me Home . A collection of short essays written under Mark's post Katrina blogs, "Wet Bank Guide" for the first two years Post-K.
I keep it in my car to pick up whenever I'm stuck in traffic. His writing brings you to the place he talks about.