Americana
Canada is a nice country. America, I hear, is also a nice country, even though its troubles are more widely televised, but on occasion I have found myself ruminating on the differences and saying that I prefer Canada, while admitting that there are things about the United States that I do not know and have not taken into account. I stumbled across this map the other day, though, and I think it lets me marvel about some important statistical differences between our countries without being accused of inappropriate judgement. (Yes, I mean you, Zoot!)
A map tracking the murders annually in a single city: it was inconceivable to me before I saw it, and yet with 732 murders in Los Angeles since January 1 of this year, this map has a hypnotic effect on me. Not in a good way, mind you....
A map tracking the murders annually in a single city: it was inconceivable to me before I saw it, and yet with 732 murders in Los Angeles since January 1 of this year, this map has a hypnotic effect on me. Not in a good way, mind you....
Comments
frightening, really!
Gun violence, mostly: the prevalence of gun involvement is what strikes me.
Yes, the rate is much higher there, more than three times as high.
With about 30 million Canadians, we had 605 murders in 2006, for a rate of 1.85 homicides per 100,000 citizens (thanks, StatsCan!).
Los Angeles has about 10 million people, and they've had 732 murders between January 1 and November 15, 2007. If there weren't any more murders there in 2007, the annual rate would be 7.32.