The Wire

Dear Friends,

This is from the Commercial Appeal today: Dozens arrested in major raid.

Having taught in this neighborhood a few years ago, I was not at all surprised by this. I was also very proud of the Memphis Police for this raid. Drugs and gangs rule this area of town. The gang graffiti is omnipresent, and I got pretty good at reading it.

In a related story, I just finished watching season 3 of the oft-blogged-about show on HBO, "The Wire." If you haven't seen it, it offers a fairly realistic picture of the Baltimore crime scene. On the surface it is a typical cop drama in the mold of NYPD Blue and The Shield (two of my favorites), but because it is on HBO, it is allowed to be far more realistic.

At the end of the season 3, the viewer is left with the feeling that no matter how much changes, everything stays the same--like the Bon Jovi song. The big boss is taken down, but the new boss comes in to take his place without struggle.

Anyway, drugs are bad. I really need to develop my ideas on this.

-LCC