Chicago: July 4th Killings/Shootings Beat 2013

Chicago's Mayor has been kicking back and celebrating the year's drop in deadly violence in his city compared to years past.

However, this year's 4th of July weekend just proved that violence must still be in that city's genes.

Last year, 12 people died of gunshots and 74 were wounded.  This year, with violence supposedly down, 14 people lost their lives and 82 were wounded. 

References:

2013: Chicago erupts in gun violence: 74 people shot, 12 killed over July 4 weekend: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0708/Chicago-erupts-in-gun-violence-74-people-shot-12-killed-over-July-4-weekend

2014: Fourth of July weekend toll: 82 shot, 14 of them fatally, in Chicago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-fourth-of-july-toll-82-shot-14-of-them-fatally-in-chicago-20140707,0,5439185.story

The Big Drop In This Morning's Jobless Claims Was Due To 4th Of July

Two years ago, on the 22nd of July, I wrote this:  

It Was All Because Of A National Holiday, Stupid!

As I had predicted three weeks ago, the jobless claims would fall following the three-day, Fourth-of-July holiday. Also as predicted, the economists would be shocked (as in the case this morning) when the jobless claims jumped significantly to be greater than expected (Click here to See Story: Jobless claims rise more than expected last week). Actually, the claims number jumped to 464,000 from the "expected" consensus of only 445,000. And that number was markedly higher than last week's reported 427,000.

Well, this morning the jobless claims fell by a shocking 26,000 claims.  And, of course, the experts seemed to be grasping at straws, like fewer auto plant closures, to explain the drop.  But, as I had indicated in the headline of my July 22, 2010 blog entry: "It Was All Because Of A National Holiday, Stupid!"  And just like 2010, you can expect the jobless claims to rise again to their usual lousy levels.

Story on the claims drop: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-12/jobless-claims-in-u-dot-s-dot-plunge-as-fewer-auto-plants-shut-down

Who Would Have Thought...

Who would have thought that 234 years ago, a small collection of colonies of the then-superpower, Great Britain, by declaring their independence, could rise to become the most powerful nation in the world. And, in doing so, become a beacon for freedom.

Today is representative of the true meaning and values of a collection of peoples that call themselves Americans. Many of us complain about our life in this country but, many more -- those who haven't been able to walk in our shoes of freedom and liberty -- wish for the very chance to live their lives as we do. To some extent, we have become spoiled and we have forgotten the sacrifices that ultimately took place after we declared our independence.

Freedom does not come freely. It is something we must always safeguard with every breath we take.

On this day of remembrance, we should pledge to cherish all that our founders have given us. While not always a a perfect society, we should always strive to be better. Our guiding light should be that of Lady Liberty in New York harbor who's original title was "Liberty Enlightening the World" and who was originally dedicated to celebrate the 100th year of our independence. As much as possible, we should always lead by "enlightening the world" and not necessarily through our power.

Happy Birthday, America!

Image by Turkinator's photostream on Flickr with Creative Commons Licensing. Some rights retained. (Click to View Other Works).