My Blog

Month: January 2013

  • Gun Violence and Race

    Chicago is home to some 2,707,120 people (U.S. Census.)  We’re also told that about 32.9% are black while 45% are white.  That equates to about 890,642 black people and 1,218,204 white people in Chicago.  So far, nothing unusual.

    Over at the Red Eye (a Tribune Media property) they have a worksheet showing the murder victims in Chicago.  The results show 392 black victims and 116 white victims.  Some algebra we calculate that the homicide rate in Chicago (by all causes, not just guns) is:

    44.01 / 100,000 for black people, and 9.52  / 100,000 for white people.

    For the record, the U.S. homicide rate (by all causes, not just guns) — for the entire country — is 4.8.

    Chicago’s homicide rate (by all causes, not just guns) for everyone is 18.98.

    If Chicago was it’s own country, the homicide rate among black’s in Chicago would rate between Belize (41.4) and Venezuela. (45.1.)

    If Chicago was it’s own country, the homicide rate among white’s in Chicago would rate between Bolivia (8.9) and Nauru (9.8.)

    Chicago is a dangerous place for everybody (as compared to the U.S. countryside) but is nearly 5 times more dangerous for blacks as for whites.

    The Atlantic took this a bit further; looking only a GUN homicides:

    The pattern is staggering. A number of U.S. cities have gun homicide rates in line with the most deadly nations in the world.  If it were a country,

    New Orleans (with a rate 62.1 gun murders per 100,000 people) would rank second in the world.

    Detroit’s gun homicide rate (35.9) is just a bit less than El Salvador (39.9).

    Baltimore’s rate (29.7) is not too far off that of Guatemala (34.8).

    Gun murder in Newark (25.4) and Miami (23.7) is comparable to Colombia (27.1).

    Washington D.C. (19) has a higher rate of gun homicide than Brazil (18.1).

    Atlanta’s rate (17.2) is about the same as South Africa (17).

    Cleveland (17.4) has a higher rate than the Dominican Republic (16.3).

    Gun murder in Buffalo (16.5) is similar to Panama (16.2).

    Houston’s rate (12.9) is slightly higher than Ecuador’s (12.7).

    Gun homicide in Chicago (11.6) is similar to Guyana (11.5).

    Phoenix’s rate (10.6) is slightly higher than Mexico (10).

    Los Angeles (9.2) is comparable to the Philippines (8.9).

    Boston rate (6.2) is higher than Nicaragua (5.9).

    New York, where gun murders have declined to just four per 100,000, is still higher than Argentina (3).

    Even the cities with the lowest homicide rates by American standards, like San Jose and Austin, compare to Albania and Cambodia respectively.

    via The Atlantic Cities.

    Incredible.

    Back to Chicago…

    Of the 441 gun homicide victims in Chicago 347 (or 78.68%) were black; 91 (20.63%) were white.  Blacks are victims of gun homicides at over twice the rate to their population.  White are victims less than one-half the rate to their population.

    I’m willing to bet you that if we looked into all of these cities on The Atlantic list that we would find similar results.  In this country we have a serious gun violence problem in the black community.  It needs to be dealt with.  It is unfair and unjust that peaceful people — of any race — have to live in communities plagued by violence.  But because of the unique nature of this problem a wide-sweeping federal solution will never work.

    Taking guns away from law abiding citizens in the sticks will not solve the inner city gun problems.

  • I’m Back!

    Christmas plus work plus a trip to Vegas plus plus….

    Nearly caught-up.  Let’s get going again!

  • Today the Obama admin came out with it’s gun control plan:
    A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said.
    via The Washington Post.
    This has all been covered before. An expensive boondoggle that will not save a single life or solve a single crime. Pathetic.

  • Cat Busted Sneaking Saw, Drill Bits, Phone into Prison

    A cat carrying a saw and a mobile phone was “detained” as it entered a prison gate in northeast Brazil, Brazilian media reported on Saturday.

    Prison guards were surprised when they saw a white cat crossing the main gate of the prison, its body wrapped with tape. A closer look showed the feline also carried drills, an earphone, a memory card, batteries and a phone charger.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    Awesome!  I want a break out of jail cat.

    Photo’s show the cat wrapped in clear tape.  I’m thinking that is waaaayy too obvious.  This whole story is fake; a plant by the guards of something.

    If you’re going to go through the trouble of training a cat to walk into a prison with tools taped to it then you would at least be smart enough to use white tape.  Of even put the cat in a sweater of something.

    I say hoax.

  • Illinois New Laws

    There are a bunch.  PDF summary is here.

  • Held by Pirates for Nearly Three Years

    After almost three years in captivity, the crew of the Iceberg 1, a cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates, are home after finally being rescued.  …

    Its Dubai-based owner, who appears not to have been insured, refused to pay a ransom for it and simply went to ground, ignoring pleas for help from the hostages’ families.

    Meanwhile, the governments representing the different sailors on board – six Indians, nine Yemenis, four Ghanaians, two Sudanese, two Pakistanis and one Filipino – were either unable or unwilling to mount a rescue attempt.  …

    Now, though, it has been – courtesy of an armed raid not by the multi-national force, but by Somalia’s own fledgling anti-piracy patrols, who have been trained up a South African private military company. But while I would be the first to congratulate the Somali troops for completing what is an extremely dangerous job, I can’t help wondering why it had to be left to them. Freeing hostages is normally a task deemed suitable only for highly-trained special forces, and without casting aspersions on the Somalis’ abilities, I doubt they quite fall into that category.

    The multinational force, on the other hand, has huge special forces assets galore, from Britain, France, the US and so on. Given the appalling plight of this ship, could they not perhaps have made an exception in this case?

     

    The answer, I suspect, is that most nations are generally reluctant to risk the lives of their own troops to free citizens from other countries, which is probably fair enough. But this does give an idea of the limits to which the international force – and note that word “international” – is prepared to go.

     

    One also can’t help wondering why India – which now sees itself as a global superpower, and has perfectly competent special forces – couldn’t have done the raid, given that six of the hostages were Indian. Yes, they would have ended up taking the lead on behalf of a few lesser nations in the process. But isn’t that what being a superpower is all about?

    Kudos to the Somalis for pulling themselves together.

    Shame on India for not lifting a finger.

    It’s time the U.S. and the U.K. seriously think about their global roles as well.  Should add China and Russia to the list as well.  All countries rely on global trade.  All should be willing to do their part to keep global shipping channels free from pirates.

    If we’re willing to commit 35,000 troops to kill Afghans who’ve done nothing wrong (other than try to survive) than can’t be pledge a small force of 100 to deal with pirates?

  • Guns vs. McDonald’s

    There are more than 129,817 federally licensed firearms dealers in the United States, according to the latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives numbers as of Aug. 1.

    Of those, 51,438 are retail gun stores, 7,356 are pawn shops and 61,562 are collectors, with the balance of the licenses belonging mostly to manufacturers and importers of firearms and destructive devices. For comparison, here are some numbers of other ubiquitous elements of American life:

    • Gas Stations in the U.S. 2011: 143,839
    • Grocery Stores in the U.S. 2011 36,569
    • McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. 2011: 14,098

    Yes, there are more stores selling guns than groceries.

    But unlike burgers, gas and groceries, firearms are not a perishable or consumable product. They don’t go away. A rifle used in the 2009 Holocaust Museum shooting was nearly 100 years old, but was still an effective murder weapon.

    via ABC News.

    Interesting right?  But get this:

    • About 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year–that’s 1 in every 4 deaths.
    • Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. More than half of the deaths due to heart disease in 2009 were in men.
    • Coronary heart disease is the most common type of heart disease, killing more than 385,000 people annually.
    • Every year about 935,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of these, 610,000 are a first heart attack. 325,000 happen in people who have already had a heart attack.
    • Coronary heart disease alone costs the United States $108.9 billion each year. This total includes the cost of health care services, medications, and lost productivity.

    via Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

    Heart disease kills 15 times more people than guns annually.  Where’s the campaign to ban tobacco and trans-fats?

    According to Pew Research there are around 160, 000 fast food restaurants in the U.S.  That’s about 30,000 more fast food places than licensed FFL’s.  But it’s actually 2.7 times the number of gun stores and pawn shops with licenses to sell guns. But these fast food places and gas stations (number one source of cigarettes) that are killing 15 times as many people.

    What we really need is to be shutting down these merchants of death… the fast food restaurants and stores that sell cigarettes. Kinda like in Clerk’s when Dante gets attacked.

  • Nero in the White House

    Just discovered Mychal Massie (no, I don’t know where I’ve been either.)

    As the stock markets were crashing, taking with them the remaining life saving of untold tens of thousands, Obama was hosting his own birthday celebration, which was an event of epicurean splendidness. The shamelessness of the event was that it was not a state dinner to welcome foreign dignitaries, nor was it to honor an American accomplishment – it was to honor the Pharaoh, Barack Hussein Obama. The event’s sole purpose was for the Pharaoh to have his loyal subjects swill wine, indulge in gluttony and behavior unfit to take place on the property of taxpayers, as they suffer. It was of a magnitude comparable to that of Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski’s $2 million birthday extravaganza for its pure lack of respect for the people.  …

    What message does it send to all Americans who are struggling? Has anyone stopped to think what the stock market downturn forebodes for those 80 million baby boomers who will be retiring in the next period of years? Is there a snowball’s chance in the Sahara that every news program on the air would applaud this behavior if it were George W. Bush? To that point, do you remember the media thrashing Bush took for having a barbecue at the White House?Like Nero – who was only slightly less debaucherous than Caligula – with wine on his lips Obama treated “we the people” the way Caligula treated those over whom he lorded.

    Many in America wanted to be proud when the first person of color was elected president, but instead, they have been witness to a congenital liar, a woman who has been ashamed of America her entire life, failed policies, intimidation and a commonality hitherto not witnessed in political leaders. He and his wife view their life at our expense as an entitlement – while America’s people go homeless, hungry and unemployed.

    via WND.

    How about them apples?!

     

  • Ken McElroy – Dead, Killed, No Tragic Loss

    In all, he was indicted 21 times, but escaped conviction each time, except for the last.  In 1981, McElroy was convicted of shooting and seriously injuring the town’s 70-year-old grocer, Ernest “Bo” Bowenkamp, the previous year.  McElroy successfully appealed the conviction and was released on bond, after which he engaged in an ongoing harassment campaign against Bowenkamp, the town’s Church of Christ minister, and others who were sympathetic to Bowenkamp. He appeared in a local bar, the D&G Tavern, armed with an M1 Garand rifle and bayonet, and later threatened to kill Bowenkamp.  The next day, McElroy was shot to death in broad daylight as he sat with his wife in his pickup truck on Skidmore’s main street.  He was struck by bullets from at least two different firearms, in front of a crowd of people estimated as between 30 and 46.  To date, no one has been charged in connection with McElroy’s death.

    via Ken McElroy – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    I stumbled upon this yesterday.  It’s a short amazing read about a town that simply had enough.

  • Police Issue Warning; No Idea Who to Look For

    From the overly politically  correct Chicago Tribune:

    The group members enter a restaurant, and when spotting a diner’s cell phone on the table they approach and present fliers claiming they are raising money for their basketball team, police said.

    The members place a flier atop the victim’s cell phone while talking, then when retrieving the flier grab the cell phone as well, police said in the alert.

    The similar thefts have taken place at 4:40 p.m. on Dec. 31 on the 300 block of North Michigan Avenue, 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 2 on the 600 block of North Fairbanks Court, 6:10 p.m. Jan. 2 on the 100 block of North Wabash Avenue and 8:40 p.m. Jan 2 on the 400 block of East Ontario Street.

    In one of the thefts a group member asked restaurant staff for a glass of water before another member grabbed a cell phone and fled, police said.

    Witness accounts have varied, but police said in general the suspects are described as three or four males, age 14-25, working together. They have been seen getting into a tan 4-door hardtop, possibly “Buick-style,” police said.

    The alert warns victims not to chase a robber but to take careful note of any unique physical characteristics — like scars or a limp — and call police immediately. If there are other witnesses, request contact information.

    via Chicago Tribune.

    So this is a community alert.  The police are doing two things:  First, asking people to be aware of the scam; and Second, asking people to “take careful note of any unique physical characteristics” of the perps.  So guess what’s missing from the article?  … Go on… Guess.

    My guess is that these crimes are most likely being committed by white college frat boys as some sort of hazing ritual.  Or maybe some lilly white LL Bean flannel shirt wearing beatniks who are just looking for bus fare back to Portland.

    People, we will not solve any issue in this land by putting our heads in the sand.  If a group of young black, brown, white, yellow, red, purple, beige, kids is going around ripping off cell phone then that’s what’s going on.  We need the cops (and everyone else) to know what to look for.

    Lies and deception — even by half-truth — is not helpful to anyone.