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  • Chicago’s Unreported Race War

    We’ve gone national!

    According to a statement in the Chicago Tribune, reporting on the race of individuals involved in news events, such as mobs attacking, robbing and vandalizing, is irrelevant.

    A news anchor at the ABC affiliate in Chicago goes even further: Anyone who reads or writes about the epidemic of racial violence in Chicago is an “idiot” who engages in “meaningless … race baiting,” says Ravi Baichwal.

    City officials and the media might be the only two places left where people still deny Chicago is under assault from more than 50 episodes of black mobs attacking, beating, robbing and vandalizing over the last three years in and around downtown. Many of them are on display at YouTube.

    via NWD.

    We as a society have to figure out how to handle this.  It’s not a political issue — it’s a fabric of society and a media issue.

    The facts are pretty clear:

    • There have been a great number of crimes committed by mobs of black youths in the greater downtown area.
    • These sorts of crimes have been going on for years in other parts of the city and the media turned a blind eye to it.

    As to the first part, we know damn well that if a band of pick-up truck driving white dudes wearing confederate flag bandanas sent a group of old black businessmen to the hospital with broken bones the media would be all over it.  There would be marches, and rallies, and protests in every part of the city.  The double standard when blacks commit crime on whites is obvious.

    The media has a responsibility to its consumers/customers to disclose the race of the perpetrators of these crimes so that others can protect themselves.  Especially ludicrous are the stories devoid of any details on race yet end with, “police are seeking anyone with information to come forward.”  No one is well served by removing race from articles about crime.

    This is the Tribune, SunTimes, and local ABC (and all the others) just pandering to the liberal overlords that run this place.  They don’t want this information getting out.  And the media needs access to local politicians in order to make its job easier.  So media doesn’t want to make politicians angry; lest they be cut off and have to actually work for a living.  Most media in this town is not journalism, it’s public relations.

    That mob thuggery has been going on for years doesn’t help the media’s case to withhold race from news stories.  The black community should rightfully be upset with local media outlets about covering these events when they occur on tony Michigan Ave but ignoring similar crimes in Englewood & West Garfield Park.

    The vast majority of crime in the City is black-on-black crime.  That’s where we need to focus more police attention.  We need black children to grow up and know that they can live in a crime free neighborhood.  That dealing drugs is not normal.  That knowing ten people who’ve been shot is not normal.  That burying a brother or sister is not normal.

    You cannot reclaim Michigan Ave and make it “safe” when bullets are flying 5 miles to the west and no one says a thing.

    Of course, the stunning lack of leadership from Jesse Jackson, Fr. Pfleger, Mary Mitchel, and the liberal choir of media voices is disappointing as well.

  • Illinois’ Pensions are the Worst

    A new report being issued today — see the bottom of this post — from the Pew Center on the States says that Illinois once again ranks 50th of the 50 states in assets relative to liabilities.

    But while Illinois’ absolute position did not sink — a mathematical impossibility — its relative position did erode, as the shortfall in terms of dollars here worsened faster than it did on average in other, better-positioned states.  …

    Illinois “is on an unsustainable course,” said David Draine, the chief author of the report by the Washington, D.C.-based public policy and research group.  …

    According to the report, Illinois as of the end of fiscal 2010, the latest year for which national figures are available, ranked dead last of the 50 states, having on hand only 45 percent of the assets needed to pay $139 billion in accrued pension liabilities.

    The report concerns the state’s five retirement funds, covering state workers, teachers who work outside of Chicago, professors in the University of Illinois system, judges and members of the General Assembly.

    The total unfunded liability as of the end of fiscal 2010 — that was June 30, 2010 — was $75.73 billion, somewhat less than the current $83 billion figure cited earlier this year by the Legislature’s economic watchdog unit.

    via Crain’s Chicago Business.

    Public sector unions need to understand the reality.  Retirees are in serious danger of not getting paid what they are owed.  Default is becoming a more and more real possibility.

    Heck!  These numbers don’t even include the Chicago Teacher’s Union.  So the situation is even worse.

  • JP Morgan: Public Employee Pension’s Set to Explode

    But they wanted to keep the story to themselves:

    JPMorgan recently circulated a “strictly confidential” report among leaders at the bank and with trusted hedge fund allies outside of the bank which details an impending public pension crisis. And we mean big time nastiness.

    Massive cuts in services will have to happen, or massive tax increases will have to happen, or both, to keep many pensions and municipalities from going over a cliff. The politicians know that disaster is coming. JPMorgan and their hedge fund buddies know that it’s coming. The public, though it has a sense of impending doom, still doesn’t grasp the avalanche that is headed toward states and cities in the very near future.

    Charlie Gasparino details in the attached article that JPMorgan did not want the information in the report to become public because it feared angering the politicians in the municipalities and states where default due to public pensions is a very real possibility. Many local politicians are lying when they tell their fire fighters and teachers that pensions are in good shape. According to what the report supposedly says these workers should probably start making alternative plans for retirement. But to say that is very messy politically.

    JPMorgan didn’t want to lose its very profitable muni bond underwriting business in these same localities, which is determined to a large degree by these same lying local politicians, so this information was kept quiet.

    via AgainstCronyCapitalism.org.

    To the actual article:

    OK, it’s no secret that nation’s public pension funds are in big trouble, holding large “unfunded” liabilities owed to public workers once they retire. But most politicians (New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an exception) will tell you the problem is fairly containable, that there are simple fixes — such as raising taxes on the rich or pruning benefits. …

    Not so, warns a “strictly confidential” report JP Morgan issued last year. It describes in straightforward, frightening detail how underfunded pensions are huge ticking timebombs for many of the nation’s big cities and states.  …

    Nationwide, the actual size of unfunded public pension liabilities is four times larger than the $900-plus billion that officials are ’fessing up to. That’s right, the bank sees a $3.9 trillion hole; to plug that, states and cities will need large tax hikes, massive budget cuts or both. Plus, public-sector unions will have to accept smaller retirement packages, and later retirement ages, to keep the pension systems going.  …

    In New York, for example, JP Morgan said state officials would have to immediately cut spending by 12.3 percent or raise taxes on everyone by 7.4 percent. And they’d need to make these tax hikes and budget cuts permanent for the next two decades to fully fund public-employee pensions.

    New Jersey faces an even bigger hole. Even after Christie’s reforms, it would still have to cut spending 30.8 percent or raise taxes another 17.2 percent, keeping them in place for two decades, to solve the problem.
    via NY Post.

    No word on how Illinois fares.  But as we are the #1 unfunded pension state in the union it’s no doubt a bad, bad, bad situation.

  • Gun Ownership Up, Crime Down

    Gun-control advocates are noticeably silent when crime rates decline. Their multimillion-dollar lobbying efforts are designed to manufacture mass anxiety that every gun owner is a potential killer. The statistics show otherwise.

    Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that violent crime decreased 4 percent in 2011. The number of murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults all went down, continuing a pattern.

    “This is not a one-year anomaly, but a steady decline in the FBI’s violent-crime rates,” said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association. “It would be disingenuous for anyone to not credit increased self-defense laws to account for this decline.”

    via Washington Times.

    Well right thinking people have known this for years.  However looks like many in the media still have their head in the sand.

    What’s also interesting is that:

    Mr. Arulanandam pointed out that only a handful of states had concealed-carry programs 25 years ago, when the violent-crime rate peaked. Today, 41 states either allow carrying without a permit or have “shall issue” laws that make it easy for just about any noncriminal to get a permit. Illinois and Washington, D.C., are the only places that refuse to recognize the right to bear arms. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence did not respond to requests for comment.

    I guess when the facts don’t fit the Brady Campaign’s preconceived notion of crime they have nothing to say.

  • Gun Turn-In Weekend in Chicago

    Using the lure of $100 gift cards, the Chicago Police Department is encouraging people to get guns out of their homes and turn them in this Saturday, during the annual gun turn-in program.  …

    First Deputy Supt. Alfonza Wysinger says anyone who turns in a real gun will get a $100 gift card. Replicas and BB guns are worth $10.

    “No questions asked,” Wysinger said. “Just show up at the church, and hand over the weapons to the CPD officer that will be there, and get your $100 gift card. So we strongly suggest that people come out that have weapons lying around the house, or weapons, maybe, that they don’t necessarily want in their house. This is a chance to get some money for their weapon, and get another dangerous weapon on the street.”

    via CBS Chicago.

    I wish I heard about this a few weeks ago.  I could have pick-up a few cheap old worthless guns at an auction in Indiana or Wisconsin and made a few bucks.  Maybe I’ll get myself ready for next year.

    Kudos to the CPD for completely wasting taxpayer money on a program that does absolutely nothing to reduce crime.  Functioning illegal guns are worth more on the  street than $100.  Simple economics dictate that this program is nothing more than a PR event.

  • Obama’s Policy Strategy: Ignore Laws I Don’t Like

    “In many ways, President Obama has fulfilled the dream of an imperial presidency that Richard Nixon strived for. On everything from [DOMA] to the gaming laws, this is a president who is now functioning as a super legislator. He is effectively negating parts of the criminal code because he disagrees with them. That does go beyond the pale.”

    — Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law scholar at George Washington University Law School

    via POLITICO.com.

    This Jonathan Turley guy is no right-wing nut-job either.  This is a guy who wanted Obama to prosecute folks in GWB’s White House for the alleged use of torture.

    We don’t have kings in this country.  If a president is not willing to recognize the separation of powers enumerated in the constitution then they should not serve.

     

  • Spanish Miners Fire Rockets at Police

    Spanish Miners Fire Rockets at Police in Austerity Protest, Strike | 7 Injured | Video | TheBlaze.com

    In a scene that looks more like Gaza than Spain, striking coal miners armed with homemade rockets and slingshots clashed with police Friday, leaving seven people injured– two of them seriously– the Interior Ministry said.

    The strike is the latest and the most violent of many in Spain in reaction to harsh austerity measures aimed at digging the debt-burdened country out of its financial crisis.

    via TheBlaze.com.

    Where’s the MSM on this?

    And what do you think it will be like when it’s our turn?  When we have to make the tough decisions and begin cutting programs?  Will there be violence?

  • Teens Employment Lowest Since WWII – Obama Not Helping

    This article was published yesterday about the same time that Obama was in the Rose Garden making the situation worse:

    Fewer than 3 in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment for 16-to-19-year olds falling to the lowest level since World War II.  …

    The drop in teen employment, steeper than for other age groups, is partly a cultural shift. More youths are spending summer months in school, at music or learning camps or in other activities geared for college. But the decline is especially troubling for teens for whom college may be out of reach, leaving them increasingly idle and with few options to earn wages and job experience.Older workers, immigrants and debt-laden college graduates are taking away lower-skill work as they struggle to find their own jobs in the weak economy. Upper-income white teens are three times as likely to have summer jobs as poor black teens, sometimes capitalizing on their parents’ social networks for help.

    Overall, more than 44 percent of teens who want summer jobs don’t get them or work fewer hours than they prefer.

    via HeraldNet.com.

    Holy Cow!!  Three passages worth repeating:

    [T]he decline is especially troubling for teens for whom college may be out of reach,
    leaving them increasingly idle and with few options to earn wages and job experience.

    Just who are these kids who are now left with few options?  My guess is urban city kids.  In the country there’s always work on the farm.  But in the city & suburbs we have thousands and thousands of idle kids.  Hanging around with noth’n to do; just look’n for trouble.

    Older workers, immigrants and debt-laden college graduates are taking away
    lower-skill work as they struggle to find their own jobs in the weak economy.

    Isn’t this the truth.  Have you ever been to a Wal-Mart where the greeter was under 50?  And now everywhere you go, every single stinking fast food place, sit-down restaurant, Target, Wal-Mart, grocery store, and nearly everywhere else has adult immigrants working there.  In the ’70s and ’80s these jobs were good (great) jobs for kids to get.  Two people I know very well worked at Jewel when they were in high school.  One put herself through college; the other bought a Camaro.

    With the new (unconstitutional) Obama plan on immigration the job market will now have another few million young people who are eligible to work … but will struggle to find decent employment.  It serves no one when you just set people up to fail.

    Upper-income white teens are three times as likely to have summer jobs as poor black teens….

    This is what I wrote yesterday; inner city kids are going to be one of the biggest losers in the immigration debacle.  Contrary to what some people believe, one cannot just walk into a job that pays $100,000 per year.  Everyone has to start somewhere.  Usually that means that kids bus tables at a local restaurant, caddie, work retail, mow lawns, wash cars, whatever.  These jobs are important because they teach critical lessons necessary to move up in the world: show-up on time, look nice, smile, how to deal with conflict, how to deal with a boss, etc.  You can’t just wake-up one day and think you’re going to get a job as a banker without having decent people skills.

    Obama is dooming generations of inner city kids to lives of and on government sustenance.  These kids will never reach their full potential because they have so many factors stacked against them: poor educational systems, uneducated parents, no access to jobs, and a president who’s bargained their futures for political gain.

  • MAP: CTA Trains and Drug Arrests

    This is from Windy Citizen, I wish I could find a story to go with it but someone just sent me the link to the map.

  • City Hall’s New TIF Troubles

    This story is actually from early April:

    According to a report issued today by Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson, a fluke of state law means that many neighboring business districts that collect an extra property tax to pay for security, advertising and the like actually have had to pay twice — once for security, et al., and once to the TIF.

    The report specifically deals with Special Service Areas: little neighborhood shopping districts such as Lincoln/Belmont/Ashland, South Shore, Greektown and Wicker Park/Bucktown in which the shop owners agree to impose an extra tax on themselves to pay for things of mutual interest. …

    The problem is that 80 percent of the city’s more than 60 SSAs also overlap wholly or partially with TIF districts.

    The way a TIF district works is that property taxes are frozen at a current level, with the TIF getting the growth over the next 23 years — known as increment — to spend on TIF projects. But when an SSA levies an additional tax for its needs, the amount of the levy is imposed both on the old base levy and the increment.

    In other words, to help themselves, merchants have to pay twice. And that’s amounted to an extra $7.5 million to TIFs last year and about $7 million in preceding years, according to Mr. Ferguson.

    via Crain’s Chicago Business.

    Man I really hate TIFs.