Teen beauty and honors student dead in Chicago violence as guns rhetoric rages

"From the moment of its incorporation as a city in 1837, Chicago has been systematically seduced, looted, and pilloried by an aeonian horde of venal politicians, mercenary businessmen, and sadistic gangsters. Nothing has changed in more than 130 years." (Ovid Demaris, author, 1969)

Hotel Florence, on the south side of Chicago, is a historic landmark that is no longer used as a hotel but still open to visitors for tours. An interesting history of the hotel, sourced from government records, is posted at Wikipedia. (Photo: Library of Congress; Jack Boucher)The tragedy hits home with any parent. A teen beauty who was an honors student, who participated in entertainment at the president’s inaugural event, who played on her high school’s volleyball team, was shot down in Chicago.

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Tampa and Charlotte gear up for convention-goers and record numbers of media

Ahead of the convention, the addition of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) has energized the Romney campaign and pleased many at the grassroots level. (Camera shot from TV; The US Report)

Tampa (Fla.) will turn red beginning on August 27 and Charlotte (N.C.) will turn blue the week of Labor Day as both national parties hold their conventions.  

It’s likely business owners will welcome the potential uptick in sales. It's a given that record numbers of media will descend on both cities, but numbers cited by the GOP are startling.

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Biden opts for “chains”, West gets attacked and MSNBC’s Touré fires up the race cannon

For unknowable reasons, the Left seems to not understand that both sides want to win an election and maybe that’s why there are so many irrational attacks on Republican candidates.

The latest assault came from an MSNBC host named Touré. I never heard of him or, for that matter, many of the other pundits who appear on cable news 24/7. One thing America has is an oversupply of punditry.

Touré was talking about presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s challenge to President Barack Obama—to “take [his] campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago.”

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1930s echo: Rahm Emanuel cites Nation of Islam as helping “protect the community”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is so desperate to do something about rampant violence in his long beleaguered city that he recently characterized the Nation of Islam as wanting to help “protect the community.”

Louis Farrakhan, whose official title is “honorable minister,” isn’t exactly my idea of a protector.

For one thing, he hates white people, once describing the entire race as “potential humans” who “haven’t evolved yet.”

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Is Mayor Emanuel implying Muslim and Orthodox Jew businesses stay out of Chicago?

A Christian business owner seems to be the only faith singled out in the debate about gay marriage. (Photo: Chick-fil-A)Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, despite ongoing violence in his city, appears to be narrowly focused on comments the CEO of Chick-fil-A made recently about gay marriage. Emanuel has followed talking points memed by most big media—that Chick-fil-A is “anti-gay.”

The implications of Emanuel's statement go far beyond criticizing one faith, if you think about it.

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Sen. Durbin claims local transportation in Chicago should be ‘national priority’

 Chicago Marina in simpler times. ((Photo: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Div.; LOC dates collection to 1946.)Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) crowed about shuttling $256 million in federal funds to Chicago for local transportation projects.  Durbin’s remarks were included in an official statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office about a $1 billion “Rehabilitation of the City’s Busiest Train Line.”

Durbin said, “The federal government is helping CTA make desperately needed improvements to the Red Line because time and again we've argued that mass transit in Chicago should be a national priority.”

The release from the Democrat mayor’s office praises the funding for “creating the opportunity for Chicagoans to move around the city and get to and from work with ease.”

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Chicago city workers herded into ‘Wellness Program’ (Or else!) by Emanuel

Will Mayor Emanuel designate birthday cake as a controlled substance in Chicago?You have to wonder about people who decide to elect a man like Rahm Emanuel to serve as their mayor. Emanuel is notorious for ruthless political strategies and gutter talk, something even those who admire him acknowledge.

Now Emanuel has issued a ruling to the city employees who help keep Democrats in office. You either enroll in the city’s ‘Wellness Program’ or you cough up an extra $50 a month. Oh, well, at least the mayor just set a monetary penalty. He didn’t slam a steak knife into the table and declare anyone DOA.

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