Ill Dem wants Nat Guard help for Chicago "gun violence"

[bagman45]

We were actually headed to Geno's East for an awesome deep dish, but still miss Carson's - have many fond memories of "picnics" with my lady of the time and Carson's ribs and a cold beverage..... When I go back these days, my first stop is Rosebud over on Rush; real old style Italian joint with AWESOME food. Drooling now......

[BobCat]

It is funny, a few days ago my brother sent me a link to a story about the July 4th toll in Chicago, with the note "Glad we moved to TEXAS 20 years ago!"

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/15 ... z2YRqDEh5Y

I forwarded it to some friends here in Houston and one of them told me, "If we had anything like that here, the city would be locked down and the National Guard would be in the streets!"

As far as food.... Little Al's Italian beef, a few blocks west of Halstead on Taylor, by Circle campus.

[Dadtodabone]

It is funny, a few days ago my brother sent me a link to a story about the July 4th toll in Chicago, with the note "Glad we moved to TEXAS 20 years ago!"

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/15 ... z2YRqDEh5Y

I forwarded it to some friends here in Houston and one of them told me, "If we had anything like that here, the city would be locked down and the National Guard would be in the streets!"

As far as food.... Little Al's Italian beef, a few blocks west of Halstead on Taylor, by Circle campus.

I like Al's on Ontario for beef, can't go anywhere near Halstead or the wife gives me heck. I once ate 9 polish at Jim's around 2:30 in the morning and made somewhat of a mess a few hours later.....she said it was demeaning, I said it was appropriate because I wasn't on the tenure track!

[BobCat]

Wow! It has been a looooong time! Your post motivated me to look up Al's on the Web and it turns out they have 14 locations now; one of them is even in San Jose, CA. The one by Circle campus was the only one, back then. Times change...

I haven't been back to Chicago for literally 30 years but somehow still feel rotten about the violence and despair still there. They accept it since it is localized - most of the city is pretty safe, especially during the daylight hours. The Chicago Tribune has an interactive map on the web showing locations and numbers of homicides for 2012 and 2013, and it shows that "good" parts of town are safe and serene.

What caught me up in this thread was the notion of the National Guard, and my Houston friend mentioning them in response to the news article.

[Beiruty]

It is funny, a few days ago my brother sent me a link to a story about the July 4th toll in Chicago, with the note "Glad we moved to TEXAS 20 years ago!"

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/15 ... z2YRqDEh5Y

I forwarded it to some friends here in Houston and one of them told me, "If we had anything like that here, the city would be locked down and the National Guard would be in the streets!"

As far as food.... Little Al's Italian beef, a few blocks west of Halstead on Taylor, by Circle campus.

Here a quick random selection of of crime in Chicago. I selected a district at random:

http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago ... y/new-city" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Violent crime is 1:1000 that is like 100 per 100,000 which is almost 20X the national rate.

[Dadtodabone]

Wow! It has been a looooong time! Your post motivated me to look up Al's on the Web and it turns out they have 14 locations now; one of them is even in San Jose, CA. The one by Circle campus was the only one, back then. Times change...

I haven't been back to Chicago for literally 30 years but somehow still feel rotten about the violence and despair still there. They accept it since it is localized - most of the city is pretty safe, especially during the daylight hours. The Chicago Tribune has an interactive map on the web showing locations and numbers of homicides for 2012 and 2013, and it shows that "good" parts of town are safe and serene.

What caught me up in this thread was the notion of the National Guard, and my Houston friend mentioning them in response to the news article.

Yes there are lots of safe neighborhoods, the shame is that there aren't more. And when population/price pressure force the overlap of traditional neighborhood boundaries, via gentrification, trouble comes a calling. It's like having a mountain lion in your back yard in Colorado, you're infringing on habitat, and the Cougars don't want you there.

[BobCat]

Beiruty,

You found the web site to which I referred. The particular one I had in mind was http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/homicides . No argument that overall, the violent crime rate is atypically high - but it has been since Prohibition. In those days the "old country" the gangsters were from was yrp; these days the "old country" is a different continent - but the gangster culture is the same.

Dadtodabone,

Yes, when I left the near North side - I think it is now known as Wrigleyville - was being re gentrified. You could buy a multistory brownstone apartment building, land and all, for ~$10k. Affluent young people were buying them, pushing out the low-income tenants, renovating, and renting to higher-income tenants. The neighborhood was getting "nicer" but there was pushback, as you note.

Your allusion to "a mountain lion in your back yard in Colorado" gives me a sad smile. We moved "out in the country" more than 20 years ago and about 5 years later we lost Mr. Earl, the best cat we ever had, to a bobcat. He (the bobcat, not Earl) is stuffed now, in my closet since I don't care much to look at him. One of the first mammals I ever killed, source of my screen name. City or country, one is wise to learn the local ways and the local neighbors, and learn to fit in.

[chasfm11]

Today, there is a new party responsible for the deaths of kids in Chicago.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government ... These-Kids
Breitbart
by Warner Todd Huston 19 Jul 2013

Illinois State Representative Monique Davis is blaming the Chicago Police Department for the high number of killings in the Windy City. She is not just blaming the CPD for bad policing, though. She wonders if the police are doing some of the killing.

How about, Ms Davis, that you and the other leadership of the State and of the city take responsibility for creating the conditions in Chicago? While I believe that the CPD has its share of problems, the real fault lies with the politicians, not LE.

Like all other accusations of this type, the evidence is thin. She bases her suspicion solely on the lack of arrests.

[BobCat]

Man, I refrained from posting the link http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/ ... hese-kids/ because I did not want to throw gasoline on the fire.

I am *so* glad to live in Texas!

[Dadtodabone]

Man, I refrained from posting the link http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/ ... hese-kids/ because I did not want to throw gasoline on the fire.

I am *so* glad to live in Texas!

Chicago PD needs to formally call her on that. Request the Governor direct ISP to investigate these "whispers and rumors" and when it's found to be baseless malicious lies, impeach her.

[BobCat]

The situation is too complex for that. The distrust between the Police and the people of these neighborhoods is palpable, and this is one reason few arrests are made - nobody wants to give the cops any information because they have been "the enemy" so long, cooperating with them for any reason, even a little, is inconceivable.

And it is possible that there have indeed been cases where the police know, or think they know, a particular "bad guy" - but can't get enough on him to convict, so they do a little cleaning up. To you and me this is inconceivable, but History says it is common in places where "the rule of law" is eroded or weak for one reason or another. "Due Process" is not the rule everywhere in the world, it is a blessing we enjoy - only because we are in a position to insist on it.

Please do not misunderstand me. I'm not standing up for this miserable woman or her sickening innuendo, I'm only trying to point out the circumstances that might give rise to it, and to the mindset that might accept it.

Blaming someone else for a bad situation is easier than owning up to any responsibility for it - and pointing the finger outward can engender some cohesion in a fractured community that is neither this nor that - people who, because of their background, cannot believe they could ever be accepted in (and competitive in) what is considered the mainstream - but who realize, on the other hand, that the true bad actors in their own community are not doing them any good at all. They are between a rock and a hard place, and grasp at whatever straws people like Sharpton and Jackson hold out to them.

Until they are willing to point out the bad actors, give them up, and rely on the power structure to incarcerate them, the bad actors will ride roughshod over them. But their experience with the power structure - the reality of Chicago politics since Prohibition - is that those in power wield their power for the benefit of those who have the resources (money, influence) to benefit them if pleased, or destroy them if displeased. The people who listen to this woman have no such power, so they have no reason to think that helping the police arrest the murderers will benefit them or their neighborhoods at all.

Ok, I've put my foot in it again and ought to delete this and leave well enough alone. But OTOH nobody is forced to read it - and maybe some use can come out of seeking to put some light on what is, at best, a complicated and snarled (and seemingly hopeless) situation.