Chicago, Circling The Drain

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Chicago, Circling The Drain

  • My first blog post on the subject of Chicago was way back in 2012. In that post, I placed Chicago in the special category of American cities that I called the “basket cases” — places with declining populations, astoundingly high rates of violent crime, in every case mostly black on black, and, of course, uninterrupted rule by leftist Democrats for generations.

  • The violent crime rate also clearly qualifies Chicago for the label of basket case. Murders hit a peak of 756 in 2016 (about 28 per hundred thousand people, compared to a rate for the U.S. as a whole of about 5 per 100,000). After a few years of modest declines, murders are on track to equal or top the 756 this year, with 440 through July. In fact, July 2020 just set a new record for most murders in a month, with 105.

  • Of course, Chicago has been ruled entirely by Democrats for generations. Its last Republican mayor left office in 1931. Of 50 alderman in the city, 46 are Democrats and the other 4 are Independents. In the 2016 election, the city of Chicago voted for Clinton over Trump by 84% to 13%.

Which brings us up to the last couple of days. . . .

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Appropriate Emotions In A Time Of Pandemic And Riots

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  • The year 2020 to date has certainly brought more than its share of bad news. First was the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to government ordered lockdowns, steep forced business contraction, and 20 or so million people suddenly unemployed. Then, just as things started to reopen a little, we had the death of George Floyd on May 25, followed by widespread violent “demonstrations” (aka riots) that continue even today, more than two months later, in cities like Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Chicago; San Francisco; Denver; and several others.

  • So how should a respectable member of society be feeling about these things?

  • This is another one of those many issues on which Americans divide sharply into two camps. . . .

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A Visit To The Local Bookstore

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A Visit To The Local Bookstore

Up here a few dozen leagues north of New York City, sometimes it can get a little boring. Perhaps a good book about current events might keep the mind occupied. Fortunately, there is a generally well-stocked independent book store not far away. It has recently re-opened after a substantial hiatus. I thought, perhaps I can go over there and score a copy of something interesting — for example, Thomas Sowell’s new book “Charter Schools and Their Enemies”; or perhaps Iain Murray’s “The Socialist Temptation.”

Just inside the front door there was a table piled with copies of the featured current releases: . . .

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To What Extent Do Illegal Aliens Get Counted In The U.S. Census?

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  • The 2020 census is moving towards its conclusion. A few days ago (July 21) President Trump took the occasion to weigh in with an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Commerce, when he reports the census results to the President, to provide sufficient information to enable the President to exclude from the “apportionment base” reported to Congress any “aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status under the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

  • Cue the usual outrage on the left. (E.g. from AlterNet.com, “Legal experts slam Trump’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ attempt to corrupt the census”; New York Times: “States Sue Trump Over Order to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants From U.S. House Seat Counts.”).

  • I suspect your reaction might be something different, like: What? Are you telling me that up until now they have been counting illegal aliens in the census for purposes of apportioning representation in Congress? How can that possibly be right? Do illegal aliens get representation in Congress even though they not only cannot vote, but also are not even here legally and are subject to deportation at any time?

  • Yes, that is exactly what the situation has been up to now. . . .

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Mainstream Media Polls: Yet More Gaslighting?

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  • If you read the mainstream media, you would find it hard to believe that Trump has any chance of winning re-election in November. But then again, they had me utterly persuaded the same was true in 2016. I honestly don’t know what will happen this fall, but I’m not convinced anyone in the media knows either.

  • Over the past few years, once-reliable news sources have shown a stunning inability to deviate from a predetermined narrative even in light of contrary evidence (see: Manhattan Contrarian gaslighting roundup here). Who’s to say that isn’t happening in this situation?

  • And it doesn’t help inspire confidence that the tone of many of the articles I’ve read is downright gleeful.

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Manhattan Contrarian Gaslighting Roundup

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  • Several readers have invited me to weigh in on the phenomenon of “gaslighting.” So here goes.

  • The term “gaslighting” suddenly became ubiquitous in the past couple of years, mostly in the discussions of political events; but I couldn’t even figure out from context what it meant. Finally I had to look it up. Apparently, it is a term that has been around for a while in the field of psychology. Here’s a definition from Medical News Today:

  • Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse where a person or group makes someone question their sanity, perception of reality, or memories. People experiencing gaslighting often feel confused, anxious, and unable to trust themselves.

  • But how does the term apply to political news? . . .

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