[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Illinois billionaire Governor JB Pritzker tried unsuccessfully to paper over Chicago being crowned the United States' murder capital in a Fox News interview.
Appearing on Special Report alongside Bret Baier, the Democrat heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune was grilled by the anchor over why the city had the highest murder rate out of all the major US cities.
'Why does Chicago have the highest murder rate?', Baier asked, with Pritzker saying: 'We're not in the top 30.'
Mr. Baier spoke of major US cities. Did the governor perhaps refer without explanation to all American cities or some other set not major ones?
Fox then cut to a map marked up with official FBI murder statistics for the most populous US cities, showing there were around 17.5 murders for every 100,000 people in the Windy City in 2024 - more than anywhere else.
Pritzker clawed for a positive figure to counterbalance the grim finding, saying: 'Our murder rate has been cut in half over the last four years, and every year it has gone down by double digits.'
Apples and oranges, your immensity.
Referring to the map, Baier said: 'Chicago is number one over Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York and San Diego.'
Pritzker fired back: 'You can pull statistics up, I can too. I am explaining to you that our murder rate has been cut in half.
'Very importantly Bret, we've been doing the things necessary to bring crime down. We've invested in community violence interruption, we've invested in police.' "We've changed the definitions of crime and influenced reporting."
The data used on air also highlighted how in 2024 there were 539.8 instances of violent crime per 100,000 residents in the city.
There was also 3,472 property crimes per 100,000 residents, with a total of 4,012 crimes for every 100,000 residents in 2024, according to the report.
President Donald Trump used the figures when he referred to the Windy City as 'the murder capital of the world' earlier this year.
There was some substance to Governor Pritzker's insistence that Chicago is improving, with the 188 homicides recorded between January and June 33 percent fewer than the total for the same period in 2024. This year is the first since 2014 that fewer than 200 murders were recorded in Chicago during the first six months of the year. In a press release dated August 25, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also said shootings had dropped by 38 percent.
Those figures have done little to quell Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in the city. Around 200 troops from Texas touched down in the city earlier this month alongside 200 Illinois guardsmen federalized by the Pentagon.
Trump even threatened to put Pritzker behind bars for 'failing to protect ICE officers' undertaking operations in the city.
A defiant Pritzker told reporters: 'There's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump: if you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.'
Trump has frequently referred to the city as 'Chiraq', saying that Antifa rioters have put ICE agents at risk as they rounded up illegal immigrants. For over a month, ICE officials have faced daily clashes with protesters at their detention facilities.
The state and the city have both sued the administration to block them from sending more troops.
While Chicago murders are trending down, the city continues to have a serious image problem. Designer stores along its 'Magic Mile' are frequently ransacked by smash-and-grab raiders, with dystopian illegal street takeovers also paralyzing intersections.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
10/25/2025 8:44 Comments ||
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#2
As the poor man in his family with 4.6 billion in his Trust. Note I have no idea if his IT trans brother/sister got anything but it isn't either. One of his sisters is in the 50 richest women on the planet list with 100s of billions in Trust money. All his sisters got more then him. Much more.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Mikhail Kolovangin
[REGNUM]In the first 10 months of 2025, the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has already exceeded the previous year's level. 36,954 people reached the UK shores, despite Keir Starmer's cabinet's promises to "crack down on the gangs" organizing illegal crossings. And this isn't the only migration scandal associated with the Labour government.
The investigation into the gangs of rapists that the Prime Minister had promised to carry out is in danger of being disrupted.
Two victims left the advisory group, claiming they were being pressured into silence and officials were attempting to conceal the truth about the ethnic and religious affiliation of the Pakistani perpetrators. Critics accuse the government of deliberately sabotaging the investigation to avoid embarrassing revelations before the next parliamentary elections.
These scandals are just the latest in a series of problems facing Starmer's ruling party, and vividly illustrate the profound crisis engulfing the country's traditional political forces. British politics is experiencing one of the most serious crises of confidence in decades.
PARTY PALETTE
Migration policy, economic reforms, border control, and restoring trust in the government remain the main issues on the domestic political agenda. Differences between parties on these issues are becoming increasingly radical.
Labour, in power from 2024, is committed to economic growth and social justice, but its policies are perceived by voters as insufficiently decisive.
The Conservative Party, led by Kemi Badenoch, is trying to regain ground by proposing tough immigration controls, mass deportations and deep tax cuts, including the abolition of property taxes.
However, these measures are failing to help the party restore its lost credibility—the Conservatives are at a historic low of support, around 15%. Badenoch's personal approval rating is only 33%. Overall, all the Tories' complaints seem comical given that the party held power from 2015 to 2024 and failed to address the problems, despite clearly having the opportunity.
At the recent Tory conference in Manchester, turnout was low, and former minister Lord Frost openly declared the party was on the verge of becoming a marginal force, calling the situation catastrophic. The Conservatives are losing members and influence to the Reform Party.
And so it should happen when the party acts precisely in opposition to the promises on which it was elected.
Nigel Farage's Reform Party takes a radical stance on all key issues: full border control, withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights, mass deportations of illegal immigrants, and the restoration of national sovereignty. It is this tough rhetoric that allows the party to attract disillusioned voters from both traditional political parties—the Conservatives and Labour.
The only political force showing growth besides the Reform Party is the Green Party, which increased its support to 7-12% and recently overtook the Conservatives in membership to become the third-largest political party in the country.
THE LABOUR CRISIS
The ruling Labour Party is, in principle, going through one of the most difficult periods in its history.
In addition to the rape gang investigation scandal, the party was rocked by the September resignation of deputy leader Angela Rayner over property tax irregularities. The incident triggered an internal election for a successor, further exposing the rift between the moderate and left wings.
At the Liverpool conference in September, Starmer faced open criticism from the influential Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, who accused the party leadership of creating a "culture of fear" and stifling internal party debate. The conference, designed to foster unity, turned into an arena for debate about the party's future direction.
Furthermore, the Starmer government has been accused of failing to secure the case against the alleged Chinese spies, with the Crown Prosecution Service publicly stating that the government refused to provide the necessary evidence for months, which ultimately led to the case being dropped.
Against the backdrop of these events, Keir Starmer's approval ratings have reached a historic low: the head of government has set an anti-record.
According to recent polls, only 13% of voters are satisfied with his performance – the lowest score for any UK prime minister since the 1970s.
Meanwhile, around 54% of Britons, including a significant portion of Labour voters in 2024, believe the politician should resign. What's particularly alarming for the party is that even among its voters, opinions on Starmer are divided: 43% have a positive view of him, but 50% see him in a negative light.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, responsible for the cabinet's economic policy, also faces a confidence crisis, with her approval rating at 49%. She is second only to her boss, Starmer, in popularity.
THE PHENOMENON OF THE REFORM PARTY
The flip side of the systemic party crisis is the phenomenal rise in popularity of the Reform Party, which appears increasingly sustainable. According to the latest polls, Farage's political force leads with 29-36% support, significantly ahead of both Labour (21-22%) and the Conservatives (14-15%).
This success is confirmed by actual results in local elections: since May 2025, the faction has won 108 by-elections to local councils.
Achievements are based on several factors.
Firstly, his tough and clear stance on immigration resonates with a significant portion of the electorate, frustrated by the traditional parties' inability to control borders. Secondly, Farage is successfully attracting new supporters, particularly from the Conservative Party. Around 39% of Tory voters in 2024 now support the Reform Party.
The next general election in the UK will be held no later than August 15, 2029. Although the Reform Party's ratings continue to rise, due to the peculiarities of the country's electoral system, which constrains the influence of non-systemic parties, Nigel Farage's chances of becoming prime minister remain quite slim.
Elections to the House of Commons are held in 650 single-member constituencies, each electing one member. The winner is the candidate with the most votes. The difference between the candidate and the other candidates is irrelevant. Losers can only try their luck at the next election.
This system often leads to disproportionate results, with the distribution of seats in parliament failing to reflect the actual level of support for parties among voters. Therefore, whether the British can expect real change remains an open question.
This political architecture is one of the main reasons why the British political system is undergoing a period of profound transformation and fragmentation. The traditional parties—Labour and the Conservatives—are facing an unprecedented crisis of confidence, while the Reform Party, which is radical on a number of issues, is rapidly gaining strength.
Scandals, internal divisions and the failure to address the country's key problems are undermining the establishment's legitimacy in the eyes of British voters.
#2
Critics accuse the government of deliberately sabotaging the investigation to avoid embarrassing revelations before the next parliamentary elections.
Andrew Cuomo’s campaign just posted — and quickly deleted — this AI-generated ad depicting “criminals for Zohran Mamdani.”
Features a Black man in a keffiyeh shoplifting, an abuser, a trespasser, a trafficker, a drug dealer, and a drunk driver all declaring support for Mamdani. pic.twitter.com/kDR4UaMAvk
[NY Post] Just quit, already Eleanor Holmes Norton, a non-voting delegate representing the District of Columbia, has the “early stages of dementia,” according to a police report detailing how scammers took advantage of the oldest member of the House of Representatives.
Non-voting and Washington, DC. She could do nothing before, and now she can do nothing without realizing it.
Norton, 88, was duped by multiple suspects Thursday who went to her Washington, DC, home claiming to be HVAC workers, according to an internal police report obtained by NBC News4.
The swindlers charged $4,362 to the Democratic congresswoman’s credit card without performing any work.
Norton’s “caretaker/power of attorney was not at residence” at the time the group showed up, which was just after 3:30 p.m., the report states, noting that it was Norton’s “caretaker” who called DC police after noticing the unscheduled arrival at the congresswoman’s home.
Norton’s apparent cognitive impairment was described in the section of the police report detailing victim information.
“Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) 88 years old, Black Woman, suffers early stages of dementia,” the report states.
Norton, who has served as a member of the House since 1991, has shown signs of mental decline and has struggled to do her job on Capitol Hill in recent years, friends and colleagues told the New York Times earlier this year.
The congresswoman is described as being “unable to function independently,” leaning on aides, close friends and family members for help, the outlet reported, noting that she rarely attends House Oversight Committee meetings and appears at times not to recognize people she has known for years.
#3
Must be a trial balloon. Half the House and a third of the House is probably taking Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s meds. The difference is that Norton’s vote doesn’t count.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/25/2025 9:28 Comments ||
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#4
I'd be more inclined to point fingers if I hadn't just spent $600 on my furnance - a week after a maintenance visit...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
