Not since 1930 has Chicago declared
anyone “Public Enemy No. 1,” but
the Chicago Crime Commission assures us that Joaquin “El Chapo”
Guzman deserves the title every bit as much as the infamous Al
Capone once did—even though he lives more than 2,000 miles
away.
Like Capone, Guzman runs a crime syndicate that earns the
majority of its vast revenues from the sale of illegal
substances. ;Capone
ran The Chicago Outfit, which (by some reports) earned more
than $100 million per year from 1925 to 1930. That would be more
than $1.3 billion per year in today’s dollars, according to the
Bureau
of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.
Guzman is head of the Sinaloa
Cartel, a brutal drug-trafficking operation headquartered in
Western Mexico that
rakes in about $3 billion each year. The influence of the
cartel is so toxic that it is blamed for ;rising
homicide rates ;in Chicago—and it could easily be blamed
for significant violence elsewhere. The Sinaloa Cartel operates in
17 states in Mexico and in cities across North America, especially
along the border.
It is impossible to know how many people have died at the hands
of the Sinaloa Cartel, but as one of Mexico’s major cartels, it is
certain that they have claimed their fair share of the
50,000 victims since 2006 in Mexico alone.
During the past century, the two biggest threats that Chicago
has seen are the kingpins of gangs that earn their vast profits by
bootlegging—first alcohol and now drugs. This is not some sort of
unfortunate accident. The federal government creates these
criminals—and these criminal organizations—when it declares certain
substances illegal.
The sale of “controlled” substances is a lucrative business
thanks to the risks involved. But it’s not just extra-normal
profits that result from prohibition. It’s crime organized on a
massive scale, violent
turf wars that kill tens of thousands each year, and
entire communities threatened by cultures of corruption. None
of this is new. We saw it during the ’20s, and we’re seeing it now
with our never-ending war on drugs. … Read More
Chicago Hasn’t Seem Crime This Bad Since the Last Time The Feds Banned Something
Why expanding preschool is a no-brainer
President Obama’s plan for universal preschool is as ambitious and crucial as his healthcare reform commitment, maybe more so. Citing research showing that investing a dollar in preschool saves $7 in the course of a child’s life, by improving their chances at finishing high school, avoiding early parenthood or prison, going to college and/or getting and holding a job, the president declared Tuesday night: “Let’s do what works, and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance.”
On Thursday he unveiled a plan to partner with states to make universal preschool available to every four year old, and to expand programs for younger children from very low-income families via Early Head Start and other programs. “Fewer than 3 in 10 four year olds are enrolled in a high quality preschool program,” Obama declared after visiting one in Decatur, Ga. “The earlier a child starts learning, the better he or she does down the road. We are not doing enough to give all the kids that chance.”
Obama’s new crusade demands the question: If preschool is such a great value, why haven’t we made it a priority before?
Expanding preschool is a no-brainer
President Obama’s plan for universal preschool is as ambitious and crucial as his healthcare reform commitment, maybe more so. Citing research showing that investing a dollar in preschool saves $7 in the course of a child’s life, by improving their chances at finishing high school, avoiding early parenthood or prison, going to college and/or getting and holding a job, the president declared Tuesday night: “Let’s do what works, and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance.”
On Thursday he unveiled a plan to partner with states to make universal preschool available to every four year old, and to expand programs for younger children from very low-income families via Early Head Start and other programs. “Fewer than 3 in 10 four year olds are enrolled in a high quality preschool program,” Obama declared after visiting one in Decatur, Ga. “The earlier a child starts learning, the better he or she does down the road. We are not doing enough to give all the kids that chance.”
Obama’s new crusade demands the question: If preschool is such a great value, why haven’t we made it a priority before?
The increasingly ridiculous Hagel opposition
Here it is, everyone, the absolute epitome of Lindsey Graham statements:
[embedtweet id="302134684882706432"]
[embedtweet id="302135406214918144"]
Senator Graham and his best friend John McCain have been blocking the confirmation of Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary, because they want to know whether President Obama called the president of Libya the night of the Benghazi attack. While that’s not a very good reason to filibuster a cabinet nominee, it is at least “a reason.” The White House has complied, giving Graham and McCain what they want. Graham’s response: Now he is just going to pointlessly delay the Hagel vote, because it will make him feel good. As always, with Lindsey Graham, being a senator is all about feelings.
While Lindsey Graham says he will have changed his mind on Hagel’s suitability in ten days time, lots of other Hagel opponents are definitely not going to “feel better,” because they have all convinced themselves that Hagel is basically America’s Worst Antisemite. Here is some “proof,” from a guy who writes for the depressing website named after Andrew Breitbart:
Republican dark money group’s corporate sponsors revealed
Some of the nation’s biggest corporations donated more than a million dollars to launch a Republican nonprofit that went on to play a key role in recent political fights.
Like the nonprofit groups that poured money into last year’s elections, the decade-old State Government Leadership Foundation has been able to keep the identities of its funders secret. Until now.
A records request by ProPublica to the IRS turned up a list of the original funders of the group: Exxon, Pfizer, Time Warner, and other corporations put up at least 85 percent of the $1.3 million the foundation raised in the first year and a half of its existence, starting in 2003.
Canadian lawmaker gives Parliament rousing speech about the ‘zombie apocalypse’
A Canadian member of Parliament on Wednesday gave a animated speech to Parliament about the dangers of a zombie invasion from the United States turning into a “zombie apocalypse.” “I rise today to salute the Center for Disease Control and the Providence of Quebec for putting in…
Pat Robertson calls Islam “demonic”
How is it that Pat Robertson is still on TV saying terrible things? How desperate for content are cable providers that they’ll just let this windbag spew any old crazy talk? His statement this week that Islam is “demonic” and that “I hardly think to call it a religion, it’s more an economic and political system with a religious veneer” isn’t even the most offensive thing he’s ever said – it’s just the most recent in a lifetime torrent of stupid.
What makes Robertson’s blithe dismissal of a quarter of the world’s population as “angry people” so infuriating isn’t just that it’s so ignorant – after all, when was the last time he said something that made sense? You don’t exactly expect cultural sensitivity from the man who blamed a 2010 earthquake on Haiti’s “pact with the devil.” But in a country where, believe it or not, we have women and homosexuals and nearly 3 million Muslims, you’d think that at a certain point, being a bigot and a moron would not be the sort of thing cable companies and advertisers and talk-show bookers would want to promote. But then again, I’m the person who thought Amy Poehler and Will Arnett had the world’s cutest marriage, so I may be hopelessly naive.
