Where it belongs.
Will Chicago eventually go the way of Detroit to become a sprawling urban ghost town? If current trends persist, then yes. Not only Chicago proper, but also the near suburbs within Cook County, are losing residents apace.
People vote with their feet, or perhaps with their gas pedals. To put it simply, there are fewer and fewer reasons to stay, and more and more reasons to leave.
I left Chicago years ago, bound and determined to stay away at any cost. The reasons had been building up forever: the endlessly declining job market, the endlessly rising cost of living, the dirt and noise and filth and stench and squalor, the impossible parking and traffic situation, the ill-maintained roads, the unimaginable commute times, the rude and selfish citizenry, the rotten news media, the gang grafitti, the crime rate, the gun laws, the gasoline tax, the sales tax, the other taxes and fees and fines, the stolen elections, the bloodthirsty and crooked Chicago police, and the pervasive corruption in general.
Chicago has been sleazy, crime-ridden, and corrupt ever since it was stolen from the Potawatomi, and it will remain so until they get it back, assuming they would want it. It is flat-out impossible for anyone to hold political office within “Crook County” without being a criminal, and that’s that. Yeah, BHO, I’m talkin’ ’bout YOU.
As if all of that were not enough, there has been a Muslim invasion en masse. This is exemplified by the mosque complex in the south suburbs associated with persons having known terrorist connections, along with various unexplained incidents that were instantly buried by official spokesmen with assurances that “terrorism has been ruled out” – long before anyone could describe what had actually happened.
And don’t get me started on the loutish arrogance of the entire Daley family. When Richie Daley closed down and bulldozed Meigs Field just because he could, as far as I was concerned, that was it.
The infamous Chicago weather? That’s to be expected, but there’s no excuse for any of the rest.
As far as I am concerned, the only good thing about Chicago is that, for now, there still are a fair number of Serbs and other Orthodox Christians living there. Most likely, within a few decades, just about all of them will have moved on.
I can watch Da Bears from well south of the Mason-Dixon Line, or perhaps even from overseas.
Other than that, fuhgeddaboutit.
Chicago Population Sinks to 1920 Level
(h/t: citizen_q)
CHICAGO—A larger-than-expected exodus over the past 10 years reduced the population of Chicago to a level not seen in nearly a century.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that during the decade ended in 2010, Chicago’s population fell 6.9% to 2,695,598 people, fewer than the 2.7 million reported back in 1920.
After peaking at 3.62 million people in 1950, Chicago underwent a half century of decline that ended only when the 1990s boom years produced a small gain in the 2000 count. At that time, the city loudly celebrated its comeback.
But the recent recession accelerated a migration both to the metropolitan area’s farthest suburbs and to the Southern U.S. Chicago nonetheless is expected to remain the nation’s third-largest city, behind New York and Los Angeles and just ahead of Houston, for which final census numbers aren’t in yet.
The exodus took a big chunk out of the city’s black population in particular, shrinking it to 887,608 from 1,065,009, according to William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.
“The black decline is really powering the city loss,” Mr. Frey said, calling it “part of the great reverse migration to the South.”
Blacks remain the most-populous race in Chicago, Mr. Frey said, while the number of whites fell during the decade by about 52,000 to just under 855,000 and Hispanics’ ranks rose by about 25,000 to just below 780,000.
The population of Cook County, which is dominated by the city of Chicago, fell 3.4% during the decade. But it remained by far the state’s most populous county, with about 5.2 million people.
Update: Dream Fulfilled: Rahm Emanuel Elected Mayor of Chicago
Updated: Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011, 10:39 PM CST
Published : Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011, 7:41 PM CSTFOX Chicago News
Chicago – With 98 percent of votes counted, Rahm Emanuel led with 55 percent of the vote, and will be the next Mayor of Chicago.
[...]
Emanuel said he had spoken to the current Mayor Richard M. Daley about the sort of “world-class leadership” that Chicago needs. He thanked Mayor Daley for his devotion.“He has earned a special place in our hearts and our history,” Emanuel said. “Tonight we thank Mayor Daley for a lifetime of service to his beloved city. And we wish him, and Maggie– whom we all love– the very best in the future.”
Emanuel garnered 55 percent of the vote, and Gery Chico was in second place with 24 percent.
[...]
Miguel del Valle was in third place, with 9.3 percent of the vote. Carol Moseley Braun was in fourth place, with 8.9 percent.
Update: Sunshine Review: Illinois State Budget
(h/t: Bumr50)
…Illinois’ financial situation is worse than any other state in the country according to a study by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The state ended Fiscal Year 2010 in worse shape than any other state (the state’s general fund balance was the lowest it has ever been at negative $4.7 billion[4]) and the state’s budget situation has been called “tenuous at best.”[5]
Illinois will receive $974 million from the federal government under H.R. 1586, a $26 billion plan to give states money for Medicaid and education that the President signed into law on August 10, 2010.[6]
Gov. Pat Quinn signed a new state budget for FY2011 on July 1, 2010. The state is second only to California’s budget woes in terms of budget woes and is currently facing a $12.8 billion budget shortfall for FY 2010 and 2011, according to a January 2010 study by the Civic Federation. The budget as passed does not come close to erasing the state’s $13 billion deficit, the largest in history.[7]
Originally published on 1389 Blog.
Tags: 2010 Census, Chicago, Corruption, FAIL, Illinois, Meigs Field, Open thread, Rahm Emanuel, Richard J. Daley, Richard M. Daley
I expect an urban wasteland like Detroit in 20 years. Rahm Emmanuel will just be the icing on the cake. He’ll reign as dictator until he croaks, in the manner of a Mugabe. He’ll be an utter disaster. There will not be one redeeming moment in his Administration. You can take that to the bank, if you can find one that hasn’t collapsed…
If you thought Wisconsin was bad,
With all of the, er, “organizing” in Chicago, I predict some serious ruckus in the near future.
@ Bumr50:
No more bailouts!
Let them collapse. I really don’t care. They have brought it on themselves. We are going to divide along the Debtor State/Solvent State line. Tennessee ain’t in that great a shape, either. I should have known. We had a Democrat governor for eight years. But we are solid Republican now. Maybe we can get some shit done, and save our State, if not the Union.
Iron Fist wrote:
I’m getting the feeling that Obama and the Left completely underestimated the effect of State government.
In their minds, they don’t even exist as more than a secondary speed bump to Federal control of everything.
George Soros didn’t. That’s why he’s been working on this.
@ Bumr50:
Obozo will do everything he can get away with to prop up the corrupt power structure in Chicago. You can bet on that.
@ Bumr50:
Yeah. we, the Tea PArty, need to be thinking in the same fashion. Personally, I don’t want a prog as dogcatcher. Make every elective office conservative. Shut the progs completely out of government. Make Soros’ evil brain explode…
@ 1389AD:
There is no doubt that they are “all in” right now.
There’s been much speculation as to why Obama hasn’t weighed in on the atrocities being committed in Libya and around the Middle East in general.
I submit that he’s so worried about this recent turn of events domestically that he’s been too busy to care.
I’m not sure if you’re an Illinois resident or not. I’ve just always written them off along with Michigan as a “lost” state.
Without major, painful austerity measures they are doomed.
What a sleazy political scene!
Funny that Obama’s original ambition was to be just mayor of Chicago – I wish he had achieved that. Chicago deserves him.
Bumr50 wrote:
Maybe all the rest of the states can ship their detritus, the parasite class in general, to Michigan and Illinois. Dump them there like the Arabs have the Palis in the West Bank and Gaza…
Bumr50 wrote:
I left there in 2005. I’ve lived in a motorhome since then, various places south of the Mason-Dixon Line, for the past few years in SC.
Bumr50 wrote:
He did not address the piracy incident in a timely manner. Nor did Congress! If our legislators acted in the way that our Founders intended, they would have responded to an attack by foreign enemies by voting an immediate declaration of war, voting funding to implement it, and immediately deploying whatever naval forces are needed to wipe out those @$%#&*!!
Iron Fist wrote:
Then we could spend about a billion on light rail there and they would be all set up for an economic boom.
@ Speranza:
Wish we could return the village commie idiot back to Kenya.
@ 1389AD:
Yeah, that won’t fly even around here. Pussy is the name of the game today on piracy, but that’s OK because we’ve been pussies ever since Bill Clinton contaminated the Office of the Presidency
Iraqi convicted of honor killing, in AZ.
Too bad there aren’t enough of them to culturially enrich the whole country.
@ Prebanned:
Hell, missionaries from Dearbornistan will program a new generration of ‘Splodeydope kidz, and we will have an economic boom. If only some state would outlaw Shari’ia…
@ Prebanned:
Go Jan!
vagabond trader wrote:
So are you saying he’s Keneysian? That he’s not from this country?
@ The Osprey:
Not at all,he is half Kenyan tho.
vagabond trader wrote:
To me that video just captures the lunacy of the left in a concise and hilarious fashion. The angry lesbian,
the “non judgemental” guy in the Hitler mouse costume, the rambling pothead…major LULZ.
@ vagabond trader:
She makes a lot of politicians look pretty stupid.
I think securing the border is going to be my priority issue for 2012.
We need to fix this.
@ Prebanned:
I wonder why “second degree” murder.
@ m:
Because, you know, it’s not like he cut off her head and played soccer with it. Because that would be wrong
@ m:
“First degree” would convey a message of intolerance. Can’t have that.
@ m:
He said he meant to drive by and spit on her.
Then he lost control and “accidentally swerved”.
Heaven forbid we should use capital punishment.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Blogmocracy and AllianceMedicalTrust, 1389. 1389 said: Putting #Chicago in the Rear View Mirror http://t.co/3ihDYHf #RahmEmanuel #tcot #census #economy [...]
Spam Bat! Yum!
Hey, in a way, Rahm Emanuel will do no harm as mayor of Chicago.
It is kinda like if Obama went back to Kenya and became President there. (Ok, but if they elected him they would deserve it like we did)
Iron Fist wrote:
On a similar note, Texas Rep. Wants to Turn Illegal Immigrants Over to Members of Congress.
I would go even further. Round-up the illegals, transport them to the nearest sanctuary city and handcuff ‘em to the city hall front door.
@ The Osprey:
They are pathetic,laughable even. The frightening thing is people like this are running our country over the cliff.Incomprehensible to me.
[...] Bumr50) …Illinois’ financial situation is worse than any other state in the country according [...]
Here’s the headline of the day: Hersha Howard busted for beating up roommate Jasmin Wanke over Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies
Sorry; I just had to share that.
@ Bumr50:
Added that link and excerpt as an update, with h/t to you.
Thanks!
@ huckfunn:
LOL!!!!!!!!!
@ 1389AD:
No, thank YOU!
I knew I’d heard that on the radio yesterday.
@ 1389AD:
I’m perusing that site, and there’s a really incredible tool to examine every state here.
Iron Fist wrote:
We went completely (R) for all constitutionally elected position in Georgia this year. The first time since reconstruction.
Of course we had electronic voting and no major elections issues. Thanks SOS Brian Kemp!
Iron Fist wrote:
No bailouts for Tennessee…
@ huckfunn:
Stealing Thin Mint Cookies is justifyable grounds for an ass beating.
OK. Not to be redundant or beat my own drum, but EVERYONE BOOKMARK THIS.
@ Bureaucat:
Just so they lay off my Samoas, everything will be OK.
@ doriangrey:
Nope, there shouldn’t be. State Sovereignty means just that: the State is soverign. That is the only thing about allowing State bankruptcies. Sovereign entities don’t declare bankruptcy, they default. I’m not an economist/finance person, though. I am looking at it strictly from a political perspective.
I have to argue about one thing Illinois has that is a cultural treasure. Chicago style deep dish pizza.
I have been experimenting with cooking it at home since having left the state of Illinois in 1991. My recipe is almost perfected according to the family and some very close friends.
Other than that I don’t have much reason to return. All of my family and most of my friends have left the state.
@ Bumr50:
That is a good site. I went there to verify information for my own state.
Bureaucat wrote:
I didn’t even read the story. The headline (much like girl scout thin mint cookies) was just irresistible.
Bumr50 wrote:
Thanks to 1389 for putting it up and thanks to you for calling further attention to it. That site is a treasure trove of info.
@ huckfunn:
I feel like I’ve unwrapped a Christmas present!
I’m going to donate to them as soon as I’m back to work.
Solid numbers brilliantly organized.
They’re going to be very useful as these State budget crises evolve.
Sunshine IS the best disinfectant.
huckfunn wrote:
You’re welcome!
GTG now… work …
Bumr50 wrote:
Awesome site. Admins might want to add this on the front page.
An end to governments that oppress and humiliate people? Nice! Buh-bye Iran! Seeya Saudi!
Oh.
Bumr50 wrote:
For some reason the links to the Illinois state government salaries and compensation aren’t working?
Hmmmm….
@ Bureaucat:
Works ok here.
@ Bumr50:
Thanks. I’ll try again. Maybe they don’t want us uppity Southern govt workers seeing what they make?
Bureaucat wrote:
He’s got connections, see. <—— insert E.G. Robinson here
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/22/canadian-family-fights-babys-beathing-tube-place/ Socialized Medicine at work.
Shouldn’t this be the parents choice?
Good morning. I was born in Chicago & still love the city.
Visitors to the City can have a wonderful time, staying
on the Gold Coast, shopping on One Magnificent Mile,
enjoying the restaurants & clubs on Rush Street & Near
North in general.
Navy Pier, & the Aquarium are great and there is the
Symphony & Broadway plays. Taking in a ballgame is great.
I reccomend the White Sox.
But I left the City years ago. When you go a short distance
from the glitz there is squalor like the third World.
Crime is rampant & there are no go areas for the public.
Official corruption is shameless & rampant.
The city is an example of tribalism with a gimee
gimee attitude.
Taxes & gun laws are absurd & on the way out Daley
sold as much of the city assets as he could & the
money just diasppeared.
Chicago is a nice place to visit, if you are very
careful.
More artists playing politics.
Disgusting.
I like them too…sad.
@ Bureaucat:
Welcome to the Death Panels that you were told didn’t exist in national health care.
@ Bumr50:
They are a fave of CW!
Oh, and good morning yinz!
@ NoThreat2U:
Mornin’!! Snow’s meltin’!
Yeah, I know CW likes them. I’ve seen them twice.
Ex-Justice Minister – Gaddafi Personally Ordered Attack on Pan Am 103
@ Bumr50:
He’s not gonna like hearing that. And yes, the snow is melting. Thank God! I can’t stand it. I have a severe case of cabin fever!
@ m:
Good Morning Miss M
NoThreat2U wrote:
Good morning. Yep. I’d never heard of them until Cold put up some of their Utubage and I was getting to like them. I guess I’ll have to put all their posters, CD’s, lunchboxes and happy meals on the Justin Beavers bonfire. Of course it’s not like I expected them to be rock-ribbed conservatives.
@ huckfunn:
I just wish musicians and movie stars would stick to what they do best….and it sure aint politicking.
NoThreat2U wrote:
By employing Johnsonian logic and .33 degrees of separation I believe we can safely conclude that CW is a SEIU commie thug…
@ Bumr50:
If you’re still collecting stats and charts, Gallup has a good one here.
NoThreat2U wrote:
<—- Tap's foot and glares at NT2U…
Iron Fist wrote:
…on Monica’s blue dress.
@ Iron Fist:
He’s a Muzzie and they get special treatment under the law.
m wrote:
DIE MOTHERFUCKER DIE!
@ m:
Yes, but whatreplaces them in region where 99% of the population are rabid Muslims? Jeffersonian Democracy? I have a bridge, a very reasonably priced bridge for you and you alone…
@ huckfunn:
Who the h*ll lives IN DC, anyway?
Iron Fist wrote:
Shit… I got a nicer, newer bridge, at half the price…
@ doriangrey:
I would have to agree with you. When do we ban him???
@ doriangrey:
@ m:
I’ve wanted Kadaffy Duck’s head on a pike since I was a kid. When we went to war with Libya, a friend of mine made scorecard pins for all of us to wear, and he listened to the war on the radio in class. Every time we’d sink another ship, here he’d come with new pins indicating our Score. Fun times…
@ doriangrey:
Oh, one small caveat, ya got to take all of San Fransicko with it…
m wrote:
Part of me thinks that is true. Part of me thinks that Gaddafi is now going to be the repository for any and all evils they can pin to him on the way out the door.
@ doriangrey:
She’s talking about famous people and shit…
@ Bumr50:
Parasites…
Bureaucat wrote:
The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive…
@ Iron Fist:
Was that back in 1986, when Reagan went after Gadaffi?
Bureaucat wrote:
Well of course he ordered it. We have really known that for ever. But ys do know he was also on the grassy knoll with Saddam and Arafat?
Iron Fist wrote:
Oh… spank you very little…
m wrote:
So now the rats are snitching.
@ Nevergiveup:
And what, pray tell, were Saddam and Arafat doing on said grassy knoll? Hmmmm?
@ Macker:
Grazing. Can you dig it?
//
Bumr50 wrote:
An entire class of welfare recipients known as Congress.
@ Iron Fist:
The sad part is that Qaddafi is holding back the Muslim Brotherhood from taking over Libya. I’m actually rooting for the guy.
doriangrey wrote:
Yup. What does the NCAA call it? Failure to create an atmosphere of compliance. (Thats what they call it when they can’t find fingerprints)
@ Nevergiveup:
Watch an ex Libyan minister claim that Qaddafi was one of teh surviving aliens from the Roswell crash.
Rodan wrote:
Prove he wasn’t…
@ doriangrey:
He does look kind of gray in some of his pictures…
Can we take a minute and honor this man’s sacrifice? This is from my neck of the woods….
DOD confirms Aliquippa soldier’s death in Afghanistan
http://www.timesonline.com/news/article_280bb072-3ee3-11e0-bbf3-0017a4a78c22.html
@ doriangrey:
You never know!
@ Nevergiveup:
I thought that was OJ.
@ Macker:
Yeah. Wish we’d have finished that war. We won it, but we should have been after unconditional surrender. Of course, the Soviets might not have liked that…
Rodan wrote:
I noticed that too. The baby has a severe neuro-degenerative disease. There are no death panels in Canada. That family could not have afforded the excellent care for all the time the baby was in hospital in the U.S.
NoThreat2U wrote:
Only the good die young
Hey, Guys and Dolls, check this shit out. The Teachers’ Unions have generated some real backlash:
They might as well stamp the pink slip “Fuck You!” in bright red. I love it…
RIX wrote:
OJ? You don’t really think Ruby shot Oswald do ya?
Iron Fist wrote:
Especially if we got all our cheap oil from Libya as a result.
@ NoThreat2U:
RIP, soldier.
You are a hero.
And thank you.
@ doriangrey:
@ Nevergiveup:
I am tired of US sacrificing for THEM.
That is true, I just wish it was for a worthier cause.
@ NoThreat2U:
Hey good morning! Sorry it took a min~ I got stuck on the phone!
@ Iron Fist:
What’s SO AWESOME about this is that the union machine can’t be in 500 places at once.
I wish I had a spy cam on Dicky Trumka today!
@ Nevergiveup:
Oh hell no, that’s what da man wants us to believe.
That whole thing that people thought that they saw
of Ruby shooting Oswald live was just a couple of
guys from Central Casting./
NoThreat2U wrote:
Thanks for posting.
m wrote:
Excuses!
You needed to put visine in that eye!
/
Hello!
Iron Fist wrote:
They can have the Zero.
It’s pretty funny for Ahmadamnjihadi to talk of oppression ~:)
@ m:
No problem. After last night, I think everything is a little off balance today. lol
@ yenta-fada:
You are welcome. Thank you for reading about him.
Bumr50 wrote:
Trumka was doing a Lenin immitation at the Madison rally.
@ yenta-fada:
x 2!
God bless him!
@ Rodan:
lol, Hello!!
Visine? Oh hell no! If I can see straight I’ve lost my buzz.
/
@ NoThreat2U:
“Sisson received the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal twice, and other service and conduct medals.”
It is tragic to lose good people. One of those who would lay down his life for others. God bless him and his family.
@ Rodan:
I am the walrus?
////////////////
yenta-fada wrote:
I might very well have made the choice to let my child go if they were irretreivably ill. However IT IS MY CHOICE AS A PARENT not some damn judge or panel of doctors.
@ Bureaucat:
Amen.
@ m:
Use LSD eyedrops. I’ve never done that, but I have heard that the effect is impressive…
@ Bureaucat:
upding
NoThreat2U wrote:
At some point between then and now, he reenlisted in the middle of a war.
I really can’t add to that.
It’s why we are free.
@ Iron Fist:
Hahaha!
For real though, I think I’m allergic to visine. If I use any I look HIGH AS A MOFO, LOL!
@ Bureaucat:
What if you could not afford, perhaps, a quarter of a million dollars worth of medical care? I understand what you are saying. and do you hear what I am saying?
@ Prebanned:
Thank God such men exist. Makes me even more proud to be an American.
@ Prebanned:
I appreciate the video, but I can’t watch those. I have in my life attended one military funeral. I pray Inever have to do that again. He was on his way home from Iraq for his mother’s funeral when he was blown out of the sky. Taps makes me cry
Bumr50 wrote:
How about Piggy In The Middle?
NoThreat2U wrote:
Indeed to me it is the saddest most soul wrenching mournful piece of music ever written. The only other thing for me that even comes close is seeing five aircraft flying in the “Missing man” formation. Combine the two and start weeping like a baby.
NoThreat2U wrote:
Taps was written by a Union officer (later a Major General) named Daniel Butterfield.
@ Prebanned:
I am in awe of him.