The Real Story of the Murder of Kitty Genovese

On March 13, 1964 Kitty Genovese, then 28 years old, was stabbed to death in Queens, New York by serial killer Winston Mosely. It became an infamous episode when the NY Times published a front page story accusing the neighbors of standing by while she was stabbed to death.

Apathy at Stabbing of Queens Woman Shocks Inspector

For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.

Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out and stabbed her again. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.

But there are so many inaccuracies in just the first two paragraphs - things that Martin Gansberg should have known were untrue - that it ought to constitute a case of journalistic malpractice.

Yet for years this incident was used to shame Americans for being hard-hearted and reluctant to get involved. There were even entire psychological theories created to explain the neighbors' behavior. But most of what we know about the case is almost certainly wrong.

In fact Christopher Taylor points out how wrong the very first three sentences are:

The problem is, while there were 38 people living in these apartments, only a few actually had a window on the street side where they could see or hear what was happening. It was three in the morning, so most of them were in deep REM sleep and probably didn't hear a thing.

And it turns out that no one actually saw the entire attack and that the police were called. Plus this happened just down the street from a bar known for its routine late night rowdiness:

She was only attacked twice, once inside where no one could see her. Timing is critical as well. Anyone who woke up to her screams would have taken time to get up and look out the window. By that time, they would have just seen a girl staggering down the street at 3 in the morning as a Corvair sped off.

The few witnesses who were awakened by the attack claimed they thought it was some domestic disturbance or a fight spilling out of the Old Bailey bar, not an unreasonable response. If you were awakened at 3 in the morning by shouts, how likely would you be to strap on your superman outfit and dash into the streets?

You can read more here.

One thing that people don't realize is how fast and undramatic violence can be. When I was younger I once saw a man get stabbed just a few feet away from me. It happened so quick that it took my brain a few seconds to verify that a knife really had gone into that guys chest. And there wasn't a lot of screaming or as much blood as you'd expect. It was nothing like the movies and if I'd been a neighbor looking out the window at the noise, I would have just assumed it was some drunken guys being rowdy.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:29 PM | Comments (713)
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Apologies for last week's absence, I was enjoying what is left of Route 66.

This edition will be a short one, unfortunately, but wanted to still get it out there.

Thankfully you morons came in handy by submitting several interesting items and some of your artwork, so I won't have to resort to linking up a video of Devo doing Jocko Homo for forty-five minutes,

First up, moron art, this week exclusively by Polynikes:

Poly also submitted a more "realistic" work since you barbarians don't like anything after 1900:

Moron RHH submitted links to several acquaintances: a photographer, Joel Belmont, and his wife, Lili Belmont. Joel's photographic series are incredible, and definitely NSFW, imagine Mapplethorpe dropped into the late 1800s and with less bullwhips. Lili's watercolors have an abstracted depth that suggests a "heavier medium made light" and her figure series serve a fine counterbalance to Joel's "Human Condition."

Lastly, some more Robert Hughes snapping at bad art: more...

Posted by: CAC at 04:15 PM | Comments (175)
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Update: Tiger wins by five strokes. Leaderboard from USA Today.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He's four shots up with two holes to go. You can see the last two holes on NBC. Live stream here. Leaderboard here.

From the LA Times:

Woods is seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the 2009 BMW Championship in Chicago.

Gusty winds and firm, fast greens are making things difficult for the players.

. . .

Woods' legions are itching to celebrate his seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational title and the end of a 28-month trophy drought on tour.

He has failed to close out a 54-hole lead in three of his past five chances worldwide, including two months ago at Abu Dhabi. It also happened at the 2009 PGA Championship, caught by Y.E. Yang, and the 2009 Chevron World Challenge duel with McDowell.

Maybe he's back!

Follow me on Twitter.

Posted by: rdbrewer at 02:02 PM | Comments (467)
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President Obama looks across the DMZ into North Korea.

Also, let the record reflect that moron Cuffy called this one on March 20th: "FINALLY. An Obama-looking-thru-binoculars-at-DMZ pic!"

Posted by: andy at 12:13 PM | Comments (427)
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OK, by request, here is a book thread for this fine Sunday.

Because I'm exhausted by all of that crazy-ass chess action last night, this will be brief.

I am reading the oft-recommended The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shlaes, which is a history of the Great Depression. The price of the Kindle and Nook editions have dropped to $2.99, so, being a cheap bastard, I finally coughed up some dough.

[Update: Commenter Vic notes that the Kindle and Nook prices are now at $10.99. I think maybe what happened is that a whole bunch of cheap bastards like me, lured by the low price, finally bought it, and then Amazon was all like, "Hey, look at all of those cheap bastards we flushed out, let's jack up the price." So there you are Increase demand results in increased price.]

[Update #2: I'm glad I posted this thread. Since there seems to be a fair-sized demand for it, I am going to try to do this every Sunday from now on, or until Monty decides he wants it back. It won't be anything fancy like Monty used to do, but it will be a book thread and I will try to get the thread up by 11:30 AM Eastern Time.]

Also, in anticipation of the movie, I read The Hunger Games. Mildly entertaining.

So, as Monty used to say, what is everybody else reading?

Posted by: Code Red at 08:34 AM | Comments (381)
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Yesterday I was watching some old clips of Milton Friedman. It's amazing how applicable they are to our current economic situation.

It's also refreshing to watch someone express conservative/libertarian economic principles without looking like he's reading them off a cue card.

Enjoy. more...

Posted by: andy at 03:55 AM | Comments (390)
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Well, since it looks like gas prices are going to be a major staple in this election or at least the summer, I thought it might be beneficial to see how much our government takes out of your wallet. The American Petroleum Institute has a handy dandy link (updated quarterly) that shows just how much the government makes takes. California, yeah, you're boned. Do note that the states with the highest taxes are mostly Democrat which could make the election very interesting if they don't buy into the oil companies are evil and stealing us blind BS. As a bonus, EagleSpeak had an excellent blog post on energy.

Of any given barrel, according to the Texas Oil and Gas Association, only about 19.5 gallons of gasoline are derived from an average barrel of crude. That's less than 1/2 of the barrel, but let's say we could actually by that 1/2 barrel for 1/2 the price of a whole barrel - it would cost $52 for 19.5 gallons or $2.67 per gallon (at $120 barrel it would be $3 per gallon). According to the U.S. Energy information agency, 76% of the price of gas at the pump is attributable to the cost of crude (see here), 11% to distribution, marketing and refining and - 12% to taxes. Your local taxes may vary. Here in North Carolina, it's about $.35 gallon. According to this site, Exxon (for example) makes about $.02 per gallon profit, or about 1/15 of what the state takes in.

Posted by: CDR M at 06:05 PM | Comments (742)
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Updated: I've added what came to be known as "the game of the century."

This is exciting, smash-mouth chess. If you know the game.

He's using the "Spanish Opening" or the "Ruy Lopez." Geller is defending with the "modern Steinitz variation." I recommend stopping the video after each move and trying to guess what the players will do. Fun stuff. more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 04:51 PM | Comments (211)
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You can pin this little medal straight on Eric Holder's lapel.

SANFORD — Members of the New Black Panther Party are offering a $10,000 reward for the "capture" of George Zimmerman, leader Mikhail Muhammad announced during a protest in Sanford today.

When asked whether he was inciting violence, Muhammad replied defiantly saying: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

The bounty announcement came moments after members of the group called for the mobilization of 10,000 black men to capture George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin last month.

Muhammad said members of his group would search for Zimmerman themselves in Maitland and Jacksonville -- where the 28-year old worked before the shooting, employees there told the Orlando Sentinel.

Now, how in the world could these fine gents feel so bold as to openly threaten someone, and publicly offer a contract for an illegal kidnapping? Why, it is almost as though they believe the law no longer applies to them. Almost like they have some precedent for believing that.

Our feet have been set on a dangerous path by an administration that is profoundly thoughtless in word, and belligerent in deed, towards the rule of law and the Constitution. It is the path toward warring factions, the splintering of our common society, and a constant inflammation of ethnic strife.

The path toward Stupid, in other words.

I reject tribalism, and any sane American should too.

Posted by: LauraW at 02:45 PM | Comments (717)
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Some people apparently like this sport. Me? I'll take a sharp stick in the eye, thank you very much.

Today's NCAA schedule (times Eastern):

Ladies First

* Tennessee 84 def. Kansas 73
* North Avenue Trade School (a/k/a Georgia Tech) vs. Baylor @ 2:32pm/now
* St. John's vs. Duke @ 9:04pm
* South Carolina vs. Stanford @ 11:32pm

Did they draw these times out of a hat or something?

Games People Actually Care About

* Florida *spit* vs. Louisville @ 4:30pm
* Ohio State vs. Syracuse @ 7:05pm more...

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