Noi Mahoney

Genocide in modern times

I have been reading Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Problem from Hell. The book details many recent genocides that the U.S. and European governments have ignored in recent decades, such as Bosnia, Cambodia and Rwanda.
It's very grim, but also leaves you very angry. I don't know what the solution is. But doing nothing while people are being slaughtered around the world is wrong.

Old murder mystery in Austin

Austin American-Statesman reporter Denise Gamino recently won an award for her story, "A calendar book, a guitar and a very cold case. "  It is the haunting true story of the "Book of Days" crime spree in 1979 Austin. For many Austinites, memories linger on the murder of Michael Cahill, an aspiring musician gunned down by the "Book of Days" burglar. Here, is a link to Gamino sharing reporting tips.

West Side Prostitute Murdered

While the death of Anna Nicole Smith was getting all the headlines,  26-year-old Emmy Torres was found dead on a West Side corner on Feb. 7. She was a prostitute, mother of five children, who reportedly had a herion habit. Some have speculated a jealous John murdered her.

It's just another West Side story to some. But for me, maybe I'll keep digging. The area where she was murdered is known for prostitution. Some of the other prostitutes have said someone is preying on them. The West Side is probably the poorest part of SA. The Alazan-Apache Courts are on the West Side. At one time, SA's West Side was one of the most notorious slums in the nation:

"In the 1930s the West Side of San Antonio was home for the majority of the city's 82,000 Mexican Americans.^qv Most worked as unskilled laborers for area companies, particularly the local pecan-shelling industry. Working conditions and wages were poor, and the living environment consisted of dilapidated housing and disease-infested neighborhoods."

(From the Texas Handbook online)

I spent a day in November going around the West Side with the Edgewood Class of 1967, delivering about a dozen turkey dinners to needy families. I remember one family, there were four kids living in a squalid apartment with a grandmother who was old and blind. The grandmother looked worn out. They were so poor. I wonder what the future holds for them.

Road Rage

 
Maybe it's just me, but lately the amount of road rage on the street's of SA is escalating. With SA's population exploding, the amount of traffic is definitely getting worse. Maybe Saytown residents just cannot get used to all the cars on the road. I've lived in LA, Washington DC, even Florida. I didn't see all that much road rage in LA or DC. Maybe drivers are resigned to the fact that heavy traffic is a fact of life. I remember road rage in Florida, but it was caused more by getting stuck in traffic behind some senior citizen driving 5 mph.

Road rage is not new to the Alamo City. I remember growing up in the 1980s, riding around with my dad, who would curse at "stupid" drivers. But now, I've witnessed true road rage on the highway, on the back roads, even the streets in my Donaldson Terrace neighborhood. Some drivers seem like they really want to hurt people. I'm no saint. I've been known to shout, flip the bird and even speed up to cut drivers off. But I have never lost it to the point I would intentionally harm another human being. Maybe we all need to follow these tips.