Thursday, March 13, 2008

Ice Ice Baby


A few readers have written to point out that the lack of murders in Flint this year may be attributable to the cold, snowy winter, not some upturn in Flint's civic fortunes. That got me thinking in a very unscientific fashion...do people in really cold places commit fewer murders? With all the time spent buying snow tires, trying to apply Chapstick without taking your gloves off, and drinking Rumplemintz to stay warm, you might not have time to kill someone. So lets find a place that's even colder than Michigan for a quick comparison. After reviewing the crime stats for Iceland, a nation of more than 300,000 whose very name advertises its chilly temperatures, I can only conclude that the answer is a resounding yes! Here's the homicide tally from 2000-2005:

Flint (kinda cold): 193 murders
Iceland (really cold): 16 murders. That's right, 16! In six years!

And just what are these non-violent Icelanders doing with their time? They apparently enjoy floating around in hot thermal pools and listening to Bjork, which just isn't conducive to committing murders.





3 comments:

  1. Nah, there just haven't been any bodies discovered yet since all these snow banks make excellent hiding spots.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Say, I live in northern Wisconsin, and just a few days ago, I drove to work in 16 below temps. I have to say that in March, I frequently consider murder. This much winter makes you a little crazy by the end. The thing is, we tend to be very polite here in Wisconsin, so we put on our long underwear, smile nicely at each other, and drink heavily. You Betcha! Maybe you can take Flint outta the girl!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.