United Yet Divided

For John, BLUF:  We, as a nation, are divided, between those living in Blue Cities and those living in the hinterlands.  There is an intermixing of folks with different outlooks, but the Cities tend Democrat and the hinterlands tend Republican.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Diner breakfasts are perfectly normal, no matter what D.C. elites think

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, by Reporter Salena Zito, 13 March 2022.

Here is the lede plus two:

BLAIRSVILLE, Pa. — For nine years, Shawn Stanford has called Dean’s Diner her second home.  On a recent grey Tuesday afternoon, the petite 30-year-old in a crisp white uniform offered an infectious smile and warm greeting to anyone who walked in the door.

At the heart of the reason she loves her job is a sense of community — “outside of the money,” Ms. Stanford said, laughing.  “There is a great mix of regulars who I know what their order will be as soon as they walk in the door as well as travelers passing through on the highway looking for some good homemade food and a place that feels welcoming.”

The Hay family from State College were the latter; they quickly grabbed one of the green leather booths located by a window overlooking U.S. Rt. 22 and ordered some stick-to-your-ribs nourishment for their drive from Pittsburgh back to Happy Valley.

This column was provoked by a Tweet from a DC-Based journalist, which denigrated the idea of diners as being for serious people.  He evoked this response:

A Washington, D.C.-based journalist working for a well-respected newspaper — seeing someone being interviewed at a diner for another reporter’s story — recently tweeted:  “Who has time to sit down for breakfast at a diner on a weekday?  Feels like people who have time for a leisurely weekday diner breakfast are not normal!”

It was another reminder that those who work for our cultural curators — corporations, academia, Hollywood, Silicon Valley and our national newsrooms — often have very little in common culturally with many of the people who buy their products, attend their schools, stream their shows, use their social media platforms or read their news stories.

(It was also a swipe at yours-truly, made explicit in a follow-up tweet about “the salena zito-style real american interview.”)

Unfortunately, many of these people who live and work and socialize in the “super zip codes” amuse themselves by mocking people who frequent diners, gas stations, Dollar Generals, Dunkin Donuts and other un-trendy places.

Keystone College political science professor Jeff Brauer sees it as a big part of the cultural divide in this country that has caused both the Republican and Democratic coalitions to shift so significantly over the past few years.

The column then goes on to talk about the sociological and political factors at play, as Professor Prauer lays it out.  Well worth the couple of minutes to scan through or read.

Yes, the Americans in big cities on the two coast tend to look down on those in the hinterlands.  But, across the fruited plain the people have a low opinion of those college educated manderins in our centers of power.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Cities Struggle

For John, BLUF:  This year, an off year for elections, sees some interesting sociology playing out, and perhaps not going the way the Bien-pensant expected.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Emerging Metropolitan Majority?

Here is the sub-headline:

A multiethnic, moderate coalition of New Yorkers wants order and opportunity.

From City Journal, by Writer Michael Hendrix, 28 September 2021.

Here is the lede plus four:

Eric Adams, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, vowed recently that he would “create an environment for growth”—starting with public safety.  “The prerequisite to prosperity is safety,” Adams declared.  This week, he rolled out a plan to convert hotels to housing in order to tackle the city’s cost-of-living and homelessness crises.

With these moves, Adams follows the preferences of those he seeks to represent.  New Yorkers are deeply concerned about the cost of living and crime, according to a new survey of America’s 20 fastest-growing metros conducted by the Manhattan Institute and Echelon Insights.  Roughly three in four New Yorkers say that they are concerned about the cost of housing, high taxes, and public safety and crime rates.  Homelessness was not far behind, with 71 percent expressing concern.  These proportions exceed those for concern about Covid-19, jobs, schooling, or traffic—though New Yorkers are worried about those, too—and far surpassed the level of concern in other cities, especially those in the Sun Belt.

New Yorkers were more concerned about taxes than were residents of any other city. This past year, New York City earned the distinction of having the highest state and local top income-tax rates in the country. Jobs are also a larger concern in New York than they are in the rest of the country.  The city’s labor market has fallen harder and recovered slower than nearly anywhere else in America.  If New York City’s recovery had kept pace with the country’s, New York would have 375,000 more jobs than it has today.  Unsurprisingly, nearly half of city adults say good jobs are hard to find, and two-thirds cite future job prospects as a key factor in deciding whether they want to stay put.

Housing costs remain a major concern in Gotham.  Large majorities of New Yorkers support making it easier to build more homes to keep up with demand, including with faster permitting, more transit-oriented development, and more backyard apartments.  Notably, not everyone views more housing as a driver of more affordable housing;  if asked to choose, more people support an approach that subsidizes new housing rather than removes barriers to building it, though many expressed uncertainty.

More than half of New Yorkers are concerned about the quality of their local schools and school curricula—again, a bigger share than in any other city we surveyed.  Sixty-two percent support encouraging more charter schools, with even more (72 percent) favoring greater choice in schooling.  A majority (58 percent) also supports removing lessons based on critical race theory from public school curricula, a hot-button topic that has sparked tensions between school administrators and parents.

There are links at the original web site.

On 2 November New York City will hold an election for City Mayor.  .

My Wound Clinic Doctor is originally from New York and he sees New York City as going through cycles of Progressiveism and cycles of law and order.  We must be due for a cycle of law and order.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Be Normal

For John, BLUF:  Black lives do matter, but we are creating a society where we are allowing rampant violence devalue all lives, and to create islands of people while allowing many to get away with murder, and other crimes.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Making the abnormal normal destroys society

From The Don Surber Blogspot>, by Retired Reporter Don Surber, 25 September 2021.

The point of the article is that, over the last 70 years, society has become more tolerant of diverse mores, which I see as a good thing, but at the same time we have created a society where large numbers of groups feel no compunction about breaking the local and federal laws and the stndards that a majority of the Citizenry think are the proper standards.

Los Angeles County Distrit Attorney George Gascón and the San Francisco City and County District Attorney Chesa Boudin seem to think that by not locking people up they will naturally improve their performance as Citizens.  Not all of us are as optomistic.&nsp; Some of us believe that people will begin to flee those two wonderful cities for places with more law and order.

I talked wwith a physician last week, who grew up in New York City.  It was his take that New York City fluctuates between a law and order mayor and a progressive mayor.  Is the Big Apple due for another change of direction, toward an emphasis on law and order?

I want a nation where your private conduct is your private conduct and should not be policed by the Government.  If you wish to live outside of propriety, then good luck to you, but don't expect everyone to celebrate it.  Tolerate it, yes.  On the other hand, when your actions impact directly my wealth or well being, such as robbing me on a city street, then you should be subject to the punishment the law allows.  That is the dividing line.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Not All Deaths Are Equal

For John, BLUF:  It is not clear to me we have developed the statistics to help us understand the consequences of the protes, which oten became riots, in 2020.  Part of that equation is the response of local goverments.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Murder rates soar dramatically in cities after BLM protests with up to 6,000 extra deaths nationwide - massively outweighing the decline in police shootings, researcher finds

Here is the sub-headline:

• UMass PhD candidate Travis Campbell published findings in a pre-print study
• Found that police shootings drop 15% to 20% in cities with large BLM protests
• That equates to about 300 fewer police shootings nationwide over five years
• But murder rates rose 10%, an increase of 1,000 to 6,000 additional homicides
• The exact reason for the increase in murders remains a subject of study
• Campbell suggests that a decrease in police enforcement could be to blame
• He stresses that comparing murders to police killings is 'apples to oranges'

From The Daily Mail, by Reporter Keith Griffith, 22 April 2021, 16:01 EDT.

Here is the lede plus three:

A researcher has found that cities that had Black Lives Matter protests saw a significant decrease in police homicides, but a huge overall increase in murders.

Travis Campbell, an economics PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts, published his findings in a recent pre-print study examining the impact of BLM protests on police use-of-force incidents.

His analysis, which is still undergoing peer-review, found that cities with BLM protests had 15 to 20 percent fewer police homicides than expected if the protests had not taken place, equating to 300 fewer police killings nationwide over five years.

But, in a revised unpublished version shared with DailyMail.com, Campbell finds that cities with BLM protests also saw a 10 percent increase in murders overall, equaling 1,000 to 6,000 additional murders nationwide.

Your average voter eligible citizen should be able to do rhe math.  Perhaps we are having a monologue rather than a discussion.

My speculation is that those hardest hit my a reduction in policing will be middle aged and older Black women.  Millions of them, who have felt some sense of security with the presence of police.  It will take some time for the data to flow in, but that is how I see this evolving.

The worst case outcome would be a demographic shift, with major cities becoming depopulated.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Polar Opposite Views

For John, BLUF:  There are many who think that things out in the hinterlands is not are bad as portrayed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Racism-Free Utopia Is Rural MAGA Land

From Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog, 13 April 2021.

The title says it all.  Go to the Comments Section of the Battleswarm Blog and dispute the assertion.  Then let me know what you said.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Cities in Trouble

For John, BLUF:  Crime makes Cities less fun to live in and to visit, meaning the economies of cities with crime are impacted, badly.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Crime and Diminishment

Here is the sub-headline:

Rising violence may undercut New York’s efforts to rebuild its economy.

From City Journal, by Editor Steven Malanga, 19 January 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

In the late 1980s, U.S. Athletics was a 13-store footwear chain bucking competition from big national retailers to carve a market for itself in New York City.  It had the right styles at the right price and by the end of the decade was projecting $20 million in sales.  What the chain lacked was a strategy to deal with New York’s exploding crime.  In 1990, the company’s owner wrote to city officials complaining that its Manhattan stores had been held up at gunpoint 15 times in the past year, suffered 25 break-ins, and been victimized by 1,000 shoplifting incidents.  He warned that he might have to shut down his city operations.  It wasn’t an idle threat; the next year, U.S. Athletics closed its city retail operations.

U.S. Athletics wasn’t alone.  New York businesses during the late eighties and early nineties suffered hundreds of millions of dollars from pilferage and had to invest billions more in extra security to fend off crime.  Many gave up, and the result was shopping districts dotted with boarded-up, empty stores, and industrial areas with vacant warehouses.  Crime was another reason that a city with other competitive disadvantages—including high taxes and heavy business regulation—struggled to create jobs during that era.

There is nothing to say.  Either the local police forcer effectiverly suppressess crime, without suppressing the Citizens, or the city goes under.  If the policer disrespect the citizens then quality of life goes down, and eventually the Citizens replace the local Government, by voting, one hopes.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Loser

For John, BLUF:  Hallmark Channel is a sign of the cultural differences in America.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I Lost My Girlfriend In A Hallmark Movie.  This Is My Story

From The Federalist, by Mr David Marcus, 2 December 2019.>

Here is the lede plus one:

I recently got out of a relationship.  That’s never an easy thing.  In addition, Hallmark decided to make a feel-good holiday movie about it.  Some of you may have seen it — “The Christmas Farmer,” it was called, referring to the guy my ex, Debbie, is apparently engaged to now.

It is what it is, but I don’t feel like I was fairly represented in the movie.  I get it:  I’m a New York City corporate attorney courting the small-town girl, but I thought she wanted to be a part of this world.

Confirming that I am not a Progressive, I was pulling for the Farmer.  Hallmark is my refuge from the Politics of the big cities, and especially our nation's Capitol.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Succession in Illinois

For John, BLUF:  This is from several months ago, but it shows that no everyone is happy with the direction of large Democratic Party controlled cities.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Illinois County Board Passes Ballot Measure For New State

Here is the sub-headline:

Effingham County, half way between Indiana and Missiouri, a little over half way down.

From Bearing Arms, by Blogger Tom Knighton, 17 April 2019.

Here is the lede plus four:

On Tuesday, I wrote about how there was a move afoot to create the 51st state by basically cutting Illinois off from Chicago.  It’s an interesting plan, though not one I see likely to happen.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s not being taken seriously.

County board members passed a referendum question which will go on the 2020 ballot.  It asks if people support separating the rest of the state from Cook County.

It asks this: “Shall Effingham County coordinate discussions with the remaining 101 Counties of the State of Illinois, with the exception of Cook County, regarding the possibility of forming a new state and ultimately seeking admission to the Federal Union as the 51st State, pursuant to the provisions of the United States Constitution?”

The referendum proposal passed 7 to 2, which tells you where the county board stands.

It isn't likely to happen, but it would be interesting if it did.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Gun Red Flag Law Hypocrisy

For John, BLUF:  The Democrats in Congress are serious about gun control, just not for everybody.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dems Veto Red Flag Law for Gangbangers

From The American Thinker, by Daniel John Sobieski, 21 September 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

If Democrats were serious about using red flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of people who might use them to senselessly murder others and therefore are danger to society, and not just as a gun-control tool to disarm law-abiding citizens, then why did they kill an attempt to use compiled lists of known gang members, which many police departments and law enforcement agencies possess?  Why did they kill a measure to red flag gang members?  And if Beto O’Rourke is going to come and take our guns, particularly our AR-15s, is he going to start on the south side of Chicago?

Read the whole thing to see the excuses.  But, gangs are killing a lot of people with guns, just not always four per event.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Mass Murder as Domestic Terrorism

For John, BLUF:  I checked The Center On Terrorism website and din't see a link to the data mentioned.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Let's tackle mass shootings like we do terrorism

From The Hill, by Opinionator Courtney La Bau, 1 September 2019.

Here is the lede plus two:

Mass shootings are a uniquely American tragedy.  I have worked in the extremism and counterterrorism space for a long time, as a federal contractor for the Department of Homeland Security and as a national security expert for several think tanks around the world.  I have sat in prison cells and interviewed convicted terrorists.  I have sought to understand the nuances of violent hate whether it manifests in an ISIS-inspired bombing in Sri Lanka or a white supremacy-driven shooting in El Paso.

What I have seen is a common narrative: hatred, the notion of superiority and cleansing, and mobilization to violence in the name of an ideology.  But in the United States, we’ve chosen to fight back a lot harder against the kinds of violent extremism perpetrated by foreigners or those with a certain color of skin.  We created a vast toolkit to counter al Qaeda and ISIS, but we do nothing to prevent these homegrown extremists who happen to be white from accessing weapons of mass destruction in our country.

Though the radicalization process might be the same across the extremism spectrum, the numbers do not lie.  The Center on Extremism released statistics showing that 73 percent of extremist-related murders in the U.S. over the last 10 years (through 2018) were committed by right-wing domestic extremists.

Except the Global War on Terrorism isn't working.  The current Administration is working on a way to pull out of Afghanistan, but without having eliminated terrorism.

The other thing is that gun violence in certain neighborhoods in Chicago, and other cities, is a major source of terror for individuals and families.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Larger Cities Shifting Politically

For John, BLUF:  One implication is that Homelessness is driving a shift toward a more socially conservative electorate.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pushback

Here is the sub-headline:

In some blue cities, a divide is opening between an activist political elite and liberal—but more pragmatic—voters.

From City Journal, by Mr Christopher F. Rufo, Summer 2019 .

Here is the lede plus two:

The political ground may be starting to shift in America’s bluest cities. While San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver remain reliable Democratic strongholds, a divide is opening between the cities’ activist political elite and a liberal, but more pragmatic, majority of voters.

In Denver, voters recently rejected Initiative 300, the “right-to-survive” ballot measure that would have legalized homeless encampments in public spaces. The city’s activist class—progressive politicians, social-justice organizations, and nonprofit service providers—claimed that the city’s camping ban, in place since 2012, is unconstitutional and inhumane. They argued that, since society forces the homeless onto the streets, it must afford them the “right to exist,” which would include living on public property, without interference from law enforcement. Citizens, businesses, and neighborhood groups—led by the Downtown Denver Partnership, National Association of Realtors, and Colorado Concern—rose up in opposition to the initiative, raising more than $2.3 million to fight it. Voters rejected Initiative 300 by an 81 percent to 19 percent margin.

The public sentiment behind the Denver vote has been growing in cities up and down the West Coast, where rampant homelessness has led to deterioration in the quality of life for many residents. In Washington State, progressive lawmakers and activists tried to pass a similar “survival crimes” bill through the state legislature, but it died in committee after a barrage of public opposition. Even in hyper-progressive Seattle, 68 percent of voters don’t trust the mayor and city council to make progress on homelessness, and 53 percent support a “zero-tolerance” policy on encampments.

It isn't like big city electorates are becoming more Republican.  But it is like they want their cities a little cleaner and more orderly.  But, there are a number of equities.♠

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The next election for Sufffock County DA (Rachel Rollins), in 2022, will be a test.

Bypassing Government

For John, BLUF:  It hasn't come to this in Lowell, but if it does, you are in charge of one of the teams.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Portland Anarchist Road Care, Skilled Workers Who Voluntarily Fix Roads When Local Government Won’t

From the Blog Laughing Squid, by Poster Lori Dorn.

Photos at the Blog post.

My experience is that Lowell's Government is pretty responsive.  Some may say that is because of where I live, but I do drive around the City and I don't see a proliferation of potholes.  I was going to say that we couldn't say that about bridges in the City, but then I remembered the new Howe Bridge, connecting the North Campus (of UMass Lowell) and University Crossing, and yesterday morning I heard a report that work has started on the Lawrence Street Bridge across the Concord River at the Southwest Corner of the Lowell Cemetery.♠

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Which is not to say we don't need the Rourke Bridge replaced with a "four laner".  And, I am still pushing my idea of a limited access highway off 495, going across the Merrimack River into Dracut and beyond.  I would bring it off just this side of the Route 133 interchange and run it across the River just beyond Lenzi's.  My name for this, as I told herself at the Saint Patrick's Day Dinner Thursday evening is "The Marie Sweeney Bridge".  My estimate is $350 million.  Since the new President is pushing infrastructure I think we should be ready to absorb some of that job creating investment.