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New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

newyorker.com

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Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#41

Post by fortran77 »

selimthegrim wrote: post #34
fortran77 wrote: post #30

The "three people in car" is a very useful tell for criminal activity. I've seen in home burglar rings (one driver, one lookout, and one person to enter the home), catalytic converter thieves (driver, lookout, and "saw man"), etc. Not sure why they need the same patter of three here, but I guess one person will be the one who goes to the hospital, etc. It's like they all read the same "criminal" forums to learn techn…

Nor should it. You have to be realistic here - if we send everybody who ever did murder two up to Angola for life you would need like two more Angolas. Let’s not even get to kidnapping.

The prosecutors see slamming as "non-violent". Something is seriously wrong with them.

> Peter Strasser, the U.S. Attorney, was in his office when one of his prosecutors entered, looking shaken, and said that the key coöperating witness in the slammers case had just been murdered. “I would never have believed it, because this was a nonviolent case,”

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#42

Post by Throaway199999 »

fortran77 wrote: post #40
brookst wrote: post #31

I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book about the American shift from “a hard day’s work for fair pay” to what I’m calling the lottery economy. Fewer and fewer people can make a decent living with traditional work. Hence, my theory goes, the rise of actual lotteries along with influencers, injury lawyers, and schemes like New Orleans. Something is seriously wrong when family members hope an elderly relative…

> Fewer and fewer people can make a decent living with traditional work. I don't think it's that "fewer people can make a living". It's just that we have too many amoral people who won't work. It's a shame the New Yorker article didn't talk much about the true victims here: the innocent truck drivers.

Thats bs...it says right in the article that the payout for a trailer truck accident can be a million usd. Pretty sure that is a major attraction to the 25% of NO that lives in poverty.

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#43

Post by bombcar »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #13
hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11

Interesting read. This may be unfair to Louisiana based on this case, but I've heard the USA described as a federation of a bunch of states and some 3rd world countries.

I think you can find something bad in every state, even "rich" ones. Edit: Who the hell would downvote this?

You’re not allowed to suggest anything could be wrong with rich states.

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#44

Post by gottorf »

Throaway199999 wrote: post #42
fortran77 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Fewer and fewer people can make a decent living with traditional work. I don't think it's that "fewer people can make a living". It's just that we have too many amoral people who won't work. It's a shame the New Yorker article didn't talk much about the true victims here: the innocent truck drivers.

Thats bs...it says right in the article that the payout for a trailer truck accident can be a million usd. Pretty sure that is a major attraction to the 25% of NO that lives in poverty.

The traits in a person that lead them to a life of perpetual poverty are the same traits that make this type of "lottery" winning seem desirable.

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#45

Post by gottorf »

fortran77 wrote: post #37
selimthegrim wrote: post #2

It sure would be nice if we had an actual economy around here. That being said, I have definitely been given a speeding ticket by state police on that stretch of I-10 well before this all happened, and when I had a car crash under the Claiborne expressway on the Sundays when people drag race under the bridge I assure you these "runners" were nowhere to be found. Possibly because the local biker gang whose bikes the o…

People will do anything but work for a living. > Tt was surprisingly easy to find locals willing to risk their lives for money. Nearly a quarter of New Orleans residents live in poverty, and the prospect of a substantial windfall for a few hours’ work apparently outweighed any fear of getting into a car that was about to take part in a high-speed accident.

> People will do anything but work for a living. It's just engrained in certain cultures.

In fact, the lengths to which some people will go to avoid working for a living is stupendous. I've heard tell of organized crime in my area that sure sounds like a lot of work for not that much pay, i.e. no different than a low-end job.

Like that old quote about entrepreneurs being people who work 100 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week, but some twisted parallel of that.

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#46

Post by fortran77 »

gottorf wrote: post #45
fortran77 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People will do anything but work for a living. > Tt was surprisingly easy to find locals willing to risk their lives for money. Nearly a quarter of New Orleans residents live in poverty, and the prospect of a substantial windfall for a few hours’ work apparently outweighed any fear of getting into a car that was about to take part in a high-speed accident.

> People will do anything but work for a living. It's just engrained in certain cultures. In fact, the lengths to which some people will go to avoid working for a living is stupendous. I've heard tell of organized crime in my area that sure sounds like a lot of work for not that much pay, i.e. no different than a low-end job. Like that old quote about entrepreneurs being people who work 100 hours a week to avoid work…

Or the Freakonimics article that points out most drug dealers make less than minimum wage (Summarized in this talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_the_freakonomics_of_...)

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#47

Post by TurdF3rguson »

hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11

Interesting read. This may be unfair to Louisiana based on this case, but I've heard the USA described as a federation of a bunch of states and some 3rd world countries.

Well, when tourism is in decline, all those clowns and fake psychics in Jackson Square still need to eat.

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#48

Post by Throaway199999 »

gottorf wrote: post #44
Throaway199999 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats bs...it says right in the article that the payout for a trailer truck accident can be a million usd. Pretty sure that is a major attraction to the 25% of NO that lives in poverty.

The traits in a person that lead them to a life of perpetual poverty are the same traits that make this type of "lottery" winning seem desirable.

HAHAHAHA

So, how about the dozens of lawyers and doctors in the story? You know, the ones who made 90% of the money and never got charged? The ones who set the whole thing up because they knew they could convince desperate & uneducated people? The ones who orchestrated a murder (the thing that finally got two of them caught)?

What're their "traits?" Did you even read the article?

Re: New Orleans's Car-Crash Conspiracy

#49

Post by slicktux »

hydrogen7800 wrote: post #11

Interesting read. This may be unfair to Louisiana based on this case, but I've heard the USA described as a federation of a bunch of states and some 3rd world countries.

It’s a Republic of states that are Democratic. Some states have cities with terrible poverty but never the case where the whole state can be categorized as such.
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