The Associated Press reports that Houston’s murder rate has hit a 12-year high and increased by 13.5 percent over 2005.  There were 379 homicides in 2006.  The mayor thinks at least part of the increase is due to the Katrina evacuees that settled in Houston.

Regardless of who’s responsible that’s a lot of murders — more than one a day on average.  It seems that violence in this country is widespread.  I’ve mentioned before the level of violence in the City of Brotherly Love.  The army trains its surgeons there before sending them to the battlefield.  A professional athlete was gunned down while riding in his limousine in Denver recently.  Hip-hop artists seem to shoot at one another for diversion.

The average American is probably much more safe from violence than the average Iraqi, but how long will that be true?  Today there are areas in this country that are not that different from Baghdad.