UPDATED: Chicago to find out why it's now called the War Department

On NBC's Meet the Press this morning, Host Kristen Welker said, "President Trump shared this on his social media account directed at Chicago, 'I love the smell of deportations in the morning and Chicago about to find out why it is called the Department of War.' Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called it a threat. Would you call it a threat?"

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (Democrat), to whom the question was directed, called the President's social media post a “threat” that was both "embarrassing and performative." Readers are invited to suggest who might have been embarrassed by what we would call a promise... and who will be embarrassed when Chicago goes a whole weekend without anyone getting killed by gunfire!

UPDATE added 8/9/25: According to Breitbart News, the toll of those shot and killed/wounded this weekend in Chicago is 19 shot, 7 killed, in the city that its mayor, Brandon Johnson ["You doesn't have to call me Johnson!" Ed.] and Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker don't think needs any help with its little problem.

Three shot at funeral for anti-violence advocate

Yesterday afternoon, in the Roseland neighbourhood on the south side of Lori Lightfoot's Chicago, a funeral service was being held at the Universal Community Missionary Baptist Church. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, three of the mourners, who had posed for a photo outside the church, were wounded when someone inside a grey sedan drove by and opened fire.

A 20-year-old man was shot in the abdomen, a 37-year-old man was shot in the thigh and a 25-year-old man was shot in the back. According to the cops, all three were transported to local hospitals "in good condition". 

Kareem House, who witnessed the shooting, told the newspaper the funeral was that of his cousin, Mike Nash, an anti-violence activist who had died of a heart attack. There's a lesson there somewhere. Maybe there should be yet another law, this one prohibiting the discharge of firearms at or in the vicinity of funerals. Of course that would ban the traditional Jamaican salute, but it would mean Mr Nash's death wouldn't have been in vain. Right?

Note from Ed.: There are at least two ways to interpret the graphic. Take your pick.

Coming soon to YOUR city -- a summer of rage!

There are three big news stories this weekend, all related. Just the facts, first, and I'll tie them all together at the end.

Item: Yesterday, in a predominantly black neighbourhood of Buffalo NY, an 18-year-old gunman wearing tactical gear opened fire in a busy supermarket, killing ten people (at last count) and wounding three others. The shooter, now in police custody, was identified as Payton Gendron, of Conklin NY, a town some 200 miles SE of Buffalo. 

Mr Gendron is white, and was immediately labelled as a "white supremacist" by New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochula, who hates white supremacists. "It strikes us in our very hearts to know that there's such evil that lurks out there," she said. "This individual – this white supremacist – who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community, will spend the rest of his days behind bars. And heaven help him in the next world as well."

Item: In Milwaukee WI, 21 people were injured in three separate shootings, in an entertainment district where 1000s had been watching the Bucks lose to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals.

Three people were shot near the Deer District outside Fiserv Forum toward the end of Friday night's game, sending fans fleeing through the streets. One person was injured in a second shooting before a third shooting less than a mile from the arena left 17 people with non-life-threatening injuries.

A man and a 16-year-old girl who were injured in the first shooting were transported to a local hospital Friday night, while a third person drove there, according to the Milwaukee Fire Department. All three have non-life-threatening injuries. 

Police said a 19-year-old man was in custody from the first shooting and that charges were pending a review by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office. No arrest has been made in the second shooting. Ten people were taken into custody and nine firearms were recovered from the third shooting, according to police, which described the incident as an exchange of gunfire between two groups of people.

Nothing has been said about the race of anyone involved in these incidents -- not the victims, not the suspects, not the arrested man, and certainly not the "groups of people". Can the police and politicians of Democrat-controled Milwaukee not say "gangs" or "black"?

Item: While other events were unfolding in Buffalo and Milwaukee, 1000s of people -- mostly angry white women, to judge by the photos and video clips -- took part in "mostly peaceful protests" across the Excited States of America to decry the Supreme Court's expected reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Organizers -- these were not spontaneous events -- said there were more than 380 protests in cities from coast to coast, including Democrat-controlled Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. Those cities, especially Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Chicago, are not known as havens of peace and tranquility, but signalling to "organizers" (read: Rise Up, Antifa, BLM et al.) that they can take to the streets without fear of prosecution is "not helpful".

Earlier last week, Mayor Lightfoot had to defend herself against backlash after she tweeted that the draft SCOTUS opinion in Hobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was a "call to arms" [not "firearms", shurely! Ed.] for those in the LGBTQ2S+ etc etc community. 

Conservative figures, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, (R-CO) and Fox News' Laura Ingraham, accused Ms Lightfoot of seeking to incite violence when she tweeted on Monday, "To my friends in the LGBTQ+ community -- the Supreme Court is coming for us next. This moment has to be a call to arms." Ms Boebert told Sean Hannity on Wednesday, "If anyone in America is an insurrectionist, it's little Lori."

Last Thursday, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) wrote to the Justice Department. Citing Ms Lightfoot's tweet, condemned a coordinated campaign of intimidation and threats to the SCOTUS justices. "The comments made by the president's staff and members of the Democratic Party threaten the safety of members of the Court," he said.

Indeed. Not to mention the safety and security of people who live in cities such as Buffalo, Milwaukee, and Chicago, and just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when "mostly peaceful protests" turn violent, or when mindless or insane violence breaks out on its own. If you live in a big American city -- a Democrat-controlled city -- take care.

AFTERTHOUGHT, added at 1810 - Apparently I didn't make clear the connection between the first item (the Buffalo mass murder) and my prediction of a summer of rage. I have been told [already! Ed.] that I'm making the same point as crazy Nancy Pelosi and the rest, that "white supremacists" are responsible for all the rage and hatred afflicting America today. Not so.  

What I predict... and it's started already... is that the SJWs and other usual suspects will be baying for the blood of the possibly demented kid who shot up the Tops supermarket, and for all whites guilty of being white. Signs reading "No justice, no peace!" have already appeared, the cries for vengeance are loud in the land. Except for Milwaukee of course because, well, see the second item. 

If I were white and had the misfortune to be living or doing business in Conklin NY, or even Buffalo, I'd be boarding up the windows and starving the hounds. The sound you hear tomorrow and in the coming weeks will be that of the BLM shithammer striking!

True (stupid!) crime stories

Kind of a slow news day yesterday. Canadian Prime Minister Blackie McBlackface followed President Brandon's lead ["leash", shurely. Ed.] by saying Canada would join the "diplomatic boycott" of the upcoming Beijing Olympics. Meaningless virtue-signalling is what liberal democrats are good at. Do the Chinese give a 粪? Not so's you'd notice....

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. My topic for today is the stupidity of the "reparations shopping" now forcing businesses in Democrat-controlled cities across the Paranoid States of America to board up their windows. If I were Neiman-Marcus [You wish! Ed.], I'd close all my brick-and-mortar shops and allow people to buy my over-priced junk only online. If the department stores, electronics stores, clothing stores, liquor stores, etc all did that, certain "communities" would be left with nothing to loot but grocery stores.

Senseless and stupid crime does not pay, as witness these True Stories, taken from the "Crime Report" in the August 1987 issue of National Lampoon. 

A man was charged with robeery after passing an Orlando FL bank teller a stickup note written on the back of his own probation-parole card.

Another man held up the First Insterstate Bank in Tucson AZ with a note written on the back of his own pay stub. [He was employed?! Ed.]

A sixteen-year-old Marvin, of Rochester NY, was arrested after his report card was found at the site of a burglary. "His marks weren't too good either," said a police spokesthingy.

A Mount Pleasant SC man called police and claimed he had placed bombs thoughout the Charleston and Columbia airport terminals. He demanded that two million dollars be placed in his bank account, and supplied police with the name of the bank and the account number.

Police in Fulton County GA [site of a hyuge fraud in November 2020. Ed.] said an Atlanta man entered a bank there and handed the teller a note demanding a bag of money. He was arrested after he left the bank, walked across the street to a Starvin' Marvin and bought a beer.

San Mateo CA cops arrested a man for the theft of a 400-lb. safe from a hotel less than a block from his home. They followed the gouge marks he left in the concrte as he dragged the safe home.

And in Utah, when police arrested a man suspected of breaking a 7-11 window, he denied it. But when he was told a clerk had seen him, he remarked, "No-one saw me. I waited until there wewre no customers in the store."

Got time for one more? After robbing assistant restaurant manager Janice Head at knifepoint and taking her pocketbook, the assailant called to ask her out. Nashville TN police arrested him when he showed up for his date.

[Do you suppose that the victim, before she became assistant manager of the restaurant, was the Head waitress? Ed.]

The "All-New Super-Colossal True Facts Section" of the August 1987 National Lampoon has hundreds of rib-tickling stories like this, proving once again that truth is funnier than fiction. Our sponsor has one (1) copy for sale here.

Further reading: "Mayor Lori Lightfoot Blames Chicago Retailers for Not Fighting Crime", by John Nolte, Breitbart News, 9/12/21. True crime story! Excerpt: "...the retail smash-and-grab epidemic is not the fault of the Democrats who run Chicago’s government as an unopposed monopoly. Instead, it is retailers’ fault, so they must now 1) create a private police force, 2) lock up all their merchandise, and 3) stop attracting crime with all their fancy merchandise."

Tell me how gun control works?

Walt suggests there may be another reason why Maine is a much safer place than Chicago, but political correctness forbids me from discussing that. In any case, thanks to Agent 35.

Jussie Smollett charged with felony disorderly conduct for attack hoax

First the facts. Chicago police today charged Empire actor Jussie Smollett -- a proudly homosexual black man -- with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report when he reported that he was attacked by two masked men. A spokesthingy for the Cook County State Attorney's office approved the felony charge this afternoon. The charge is a Class 4 felony which carries a possible prison sentence of one to three years.

Mr Smollett told the police and the media -- especially the meejua! -- he was attacked by two masked men early on the morning of January 29th while he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop downtown. His story -- and he stuck to it -- was that the men beat him, made racist and homophobic comments and yelled "This is MAGA country!" before looping a rope around his neck and fleeing.

Chicago's finest spent hours going through private and public surveillance video from the area where the actor said he was attacked, but couldn't find footage of the alleged assault. They did, however, find and publish images of two large black men they said they wanted to question. Two Nigerians answering the description were picked up last week at ORD as they returned from their homeland. (Their immigration status in the USA is unclear.) They were held for 48 hours, questioned, and then released last Friday.

Now Walt's comment.

Sounds to me like yet another case of TDS: Trump Derangement Syndrome. But is that a defence? Stay tuned!

VIDEO: The Color of Crime in America - what the stats prove

The Color of Crime is a report from the New Century Foundation and American Renaissance on differences in crime rates by race, bias in the justice system, and interracial crime. First published as a monograph in 1999, it has now been updated and expanded in a just-released 2016 edition.

What is the predominant colour of crime in America? No prizes if you guessed BLACK. Blacks are 27 times more likely to attack whites than vice versa, six times more likely than non-blacks to commit murder, and 12 times more likely to murder someone of another race than to be murdered by someone of another race. BROWN (Hispanic) crime ranks second. White and Asian crime come in third and fourth.

Here's Jared Taylor, President of New Century Foundation, with some of the report's key findings.



Click here to read The Color of Crime in its entirety, complete with all the charts and graphs. If you don't have time to read it all, here are the highlights ["lowlights", surely. Ed.].

* The evidence suggests that if there is police racial bias in arrests it is negligible. Victim and witness surveys show that police arrest violent criminals in close proportion to the rates at which criminals of different races commit violent crimes.

* There are dramatic race differences in crime rates. Asians have the lowest rates, followed by whites, and then Hispanics. Blacks have notably high crime rates. This pattern holds true for virtually all crime categories and for virtually all age groups.

* In 2013, a black was six times more likely than a non-black to commit murder, and 12 times more likely to murder someone of another race than to be murdered by someone of another race.

* In 2013, of the approximately 660,000 crimes of interracial violence that involved blacks and whites, blacks were the perpetrators 85% of the time. This meant a black person was 27 times more likely to attack a white person than vice versa. A Hispanic was eight times more likely to attack a white person than vice versa.

* In 2014 in New York City, a black was 31 times more likely than a white to be arrested for murder, and a Hispanic was 12.4 times more likely. For the crime of "shooting" (firing a bullet that hits someone), a black was 98.4 times more likely than a white to be arrested, and a Hispanic was 23.6 times more likely.

* If New York City were all white, the murder rate would drop by 91%, the robbery rate by 81%, and the shootings rate by 97%.

* In an all-white Chicago, murder would decline 90%, rape by 81%, and robbery by 90%.

* In 2015, a black person was 2.45 times more likely than a white person to be shot and killed by the police. A Hispanic person was 1.21 times more likely. These figures are well within what would be expected given race differences in crime rates and likelihood to resist arrest.

* In 2015, police killings of blacks accounted for approximately 4% of homicides of blacks. Police killings of unarmed blacks accounted for approximately 0.6% of homicides of blacks. The overwhelming majority of black homicide victims (93%) were killed by blacks.

* Both violent and non-violent crime has been declining in the United States since a high in 1993. 2015 saw a disturbing rise in murder in major American cities that some observers associated with "depolicing" in response to intense media and public scrutiny of police activity.

Why cops shoot so many black Americans

As Walt told you earlier today, President Obama has asked Americans to search their souls about the terrible treatment given by (mostly white) American cops to "African-Americans". In what he called "a slow-rolling crisis", he referred to "troubling police interactions with black citizens". Here are some specifics, as recorded by the FBI and reported in the current Economist.

No-one knows how many people die in contact with America's roughly 18,000 law enforcement officers. Incomplete FBI figures (police forces are not required to submit data) show that at least 461 people died in "justifiable homicides" in 2013, an increase of 33% since 2005. Other sources suggest the true number could be as high as twice that.

Here are the stats from one of America's most violent cities, Chicago. The Windy City's cops shoot dead about 50 "suspects" each and every year. Over 75% of them are black. The police are mostly white or Hispanic.

Why does this happen? Craig Futterman of the University of Chicago's Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project* did some research -- or maybe it was soul-searching -- and came up with the amazing conclusion that, consciously or otherwise, the mostly white police tend to associate blacks with criminality. Fancy that!

Why do they do that? Well, about 70% of murders in Chicago are committed by "African-Americans", who account for about 33% of the city's population. Is it any wonder that, according to a 2014 survey by the ACLU, black Chicagoans were subjected to 72% of all stop-and-frisk searches. And, as surely as night follows day, a disproportionate share of take-downs and police killings.

Where, then, does the problem lie? With the police or with the so-called black community? As the Prez sez, search your souls, folks.

Worth reading: "Baltimore shows police killings America's real state of emergency" - Neil Macdonald (WM, 58), senior Washington correspondent for CBC News, explains why American police scare him.

* Note from Ed.: It's a good thing the U of Chicago stuck "Police" in the name of that project, otherwise it would have had an awkward acronym.

Archbishop of Chicago talks about the high price of US citizenship

On November 18th, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., retires from his position as Archbishop of Chicago. Widely viewed and respected as one of the more conservative of the mainstream Church's prelates, he is to be replaced by Archbishop Blase Cupich, deliberately chosen by the arch-modernist Pope Francis to lead the Windy City in the opposite direction.

In what might be seen as a parting shot, Cardinal George gave an e-mail interview to America, the national Catholic review. In the Q&A dialogue, he talked about his struggles with life-threatening cancer and the after-effects of childhood polio and a wide range of issues of the Church and the Faith, including; the role of an archbishop; the recent Synod of Bishops on the Family; the handling of sexual abuse by clerics; celibacy; and the defects of the Novus Ordo liturgy.

Here is what Cardinal George had to say about the conflict between church and state in the USA, and the criticism levelled by the secular humanists of the Church's speaking out on political issues.

I don’t believe the bishops have been more politically active in recent years, but it is true that our political activity is more adversarial as the law no longer permits the “exceptions” that used to safeguard believers whose conscience will not permit them to approve of what has become lawful.

The “price of citizenship” is high when it means one must approve as human rights the killing of the unborn, the creation of false marriages between two men or two women, the universal availability of free contraceptives, especially for women from a very young age.

My own conviction is that we must be completely clear about the Gospel and how it is to change us, and then we work respectfully with individuals and groups who cannot agree with us. I do not know that we will be permitted to have that pastoral approach in the immediate future. We will not be permitted to enter into the public conversation unless we approve of what our faith knows to be morally wrong.

I've excerpted this passage from Question No. 3, which was: Do you agree that the bishops have been more politically active in recent years and what do you consider the successes/weaknesses in their activity?. Click here to read Cardinal George's full answer. The complete interview is worth reading and thinking about...twice. And, trust me, you won't hear this kind of talk from Abp. Cupich!

Illinois or Oklahoma -- which is the better place to live?

Agent 6 passes along a comparison [dates from 2009, but still valid. Ed.] of life and legislation in two states of "middle America" -- one run by liberal Democrats, the other by conservative Republicans. Which one would you rather live in?

ILLINOIS - Some interesting data on the State of Illinois

There are more people on welfare in Illinois than there are people working.
Chicago pays the highest wages to teachers than anywhere else in the USA, averaging $110,000 per year. Their pensions average 80-90% of their income.
Chicago school system rated one of the worst in the country. Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

Perhaps the US should pull out of Chicago? Body count: In the last six months, 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago, 221 killed in Iraq. AND Chicago has one of the strictest gun laws in the entire US.

Here's the power structure responsible for Chicago and Illinois:
President: Barack Obama * Senator: Dick Durbin * House Representative: Jesse Jackson Jr. * Governor: Pat Quinn * House leader: Mike Madigan * Attorney General: Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike) * Mayor: Rahm Emanuel (Obama's best bud)
All Democrats. Thank you for the combat zone in Chicago!
Of course, they're all blaming each other. Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any! State pension fund $78 Billion in debt, worst in country. Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

Cook County (Chicago) sales tax - 10.25% - highest in country. Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!

This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois. And he's going to "fix" Washington politics for us?

George Ryan is no longer Governor, he is in prison.
He was replaced by Rob Blagoyavic who is - that's right - also in prison.
And Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned a couple of weeks ago, because he is fighting to not be sent to... that's right, prison.

The Land of Lincoln, where our governors make our license plates.

As long as they keep providing entitlements to the population of Chicago, nothing is going to change, except the state will go broke before the country does. Don't forget Detroit - another good example!
"Anybody who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian."

OKLAHOMA - may soon have plenty of new residents!

Oklahoma is the only state [in which] Obama did not win even one county in the [2008] election. And look what Oklahoma has been doing!!!

[Oklahoma's legislature] passed, 37 to 9, an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. HB1330 The feds in DC, along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values.
Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become American citizens. HB1804. They all scattered. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake.
Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegals in the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. SB1102. [Nancy] Pelosi said it was unconstitutional.
Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma a sovereign state, not under federal government directives, joining Texas, Montana and Utah as the only states to do so. HJR1003. More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida. Save your confederate money; it appears the South is about to rise up again!

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals. The Liberals didn't like it --But... Guess what... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Just this month, the state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma, you must read and write English. Really simple.

By the way, the Liberals don't like any of this either
Guess what... who cares... Oklahoma is doing it anyway.

Please don't write to me complaining that the statistics are dated or that some of the Oklahoma legislation has been repealed or struck down. I know that. And I said at the beginning this rant has been on the Net since 2009. It's a comparison still worth considering.

Another martyr to political correctness

Meet Tecumseh. He was an Indian leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy (known as Tecumseh's Confederacy) which fought alongside British soldiers and Canadian militias against the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812.

The bicentennial of the War of 1812 is being celebrated in Canada right now -- the Battle of Queenston Heights will be re-enacted on the site next month -- but for some reason is being largely ignored in the US. Click here for more information on the War of 1812. You'll see a picture of Tecumseh -- well, an actor portraying the great Indian leader -- second from the left on the landing page. If you'd like to watch a good video about Tecumseh and his role in the war, click here.

Now then, about the political correctness... Ed. thinks I should say "Native American" instead of "Indian" in the opening sentence. I will not, for the same reason I won't write "Native Canadian". The Indians regarded themselves then, and still regard themselves as neither American nor Canadian. They are just "the people", and that is how they refer to themselves in Cree and other native languages. Actually there's nothing wrong with the word "native", except that it's no longer politically correct to refer to people of colour by six-letter words beginning with "N".

Nor is it PC to use representations of n*****s as mascots for companies or sports teams or... well... anything. One company that has stopped "appropriating cultural images" is (or was) the Tecumseh Power Company, founded in 1934 as Tecumseh Products.

There is still a company of that name trading on NASDAQ, but it's not really the same as the Tecumseh Power Company that was known in 120 companies around the world for its small gasoline engines, like the one shown here.

This is an old(ish) picture. If you have a Tecumseh engine manufactured in the last half-dozen years or so, you'll notice that the Indian has disappeared, replaced by a nondescript and meaningless geometric design. The chief, it seems, is not wanted in the New Age of Political Correctness.

Warning to fans of the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Black Hawks: You're next! (Signed) The PC Police.

Chicago Cardinal compares Gay Pride parades with Ku Klux Klan

In a statement released by the Archdiocese of Chicago on Tuesday, Francis Cardinal George has defended a public statement in which he compared organizers of a Gay Pride parade to the Ku Klux Klan.

The archdiocese is trying to get the route of the strange people's stroll shifted so it won't be going by Our Lady of Mount Carmel church (in Lakeview) while Sunday Mass is in progress. Apparently the request caused the parade organizers to throw a hissy fit about gay rights, freedom of assembly and so on. In response, Cardinal George said, "You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism."

The prelate immediately regretted making the comparison. His remarks came under heavy fire from the usual gang of gay rights activists, "progressive thinkers" and the lamestream media.

In Tuesday's statement, the Archdiocese retorts that the parade organizers’ unwillingness to consider the pastor’s plea "invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church.

"One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940's, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate."

After the wave of rhetoric subsided, the LGBTQs decided they could tweak the parade schedule so it won't pass the church at Mass time. Queer folk won't be tempted to stop demonstrating and start praying for help with their disordered lifestyle. The Mass won't be interrupted and all will be good in the hood.