BU @ Duke tomorrow, some other Valley news, and guess what has worked in regards to crime in Chicago!!

Well -- I am going to break from the pack...
Seems everyone thinks Bradley will lose by 40 at Duke, but I am going to say it'll be closer...
I think BU even has the potential to throw a scare into Duke, although I won't go so far as to say I think BU can win...
Here are some reasons..
BU has played everyone close, we do have some talent and we're not pushovers, Duke is coming off a big win over Butler and may regard Bradley lightly, one of their starters might be out, and I think we will have a game plan that will keep the game close.
If we had TB and Sammy, then I think we'd be able to play them like we did Michigan State, Florida, Oklahoma State, and Vandy in the past couple years -- staying close much of the way but in the end getting overcome by bigger, stronger athletes and depth..
We'll see -- I am hopeful BU can use this game as a rallying point to establish that we can play with teams who are supposed to beat us...and then carry that attitude thru the season.

Duke's Kyrie Irving possibly out for Wednesday's game...
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Duke-freshman-Kyrie-Irving-doubtful-for-Bradley-game-on-Wednesday-120610


P'Allen Stinnett already suspended at his new school -- only 6 games into the season!!
http://www.newspressnow.com/sports/26022959/detail.html

Without P'Allen, their 2nd leading scorer, they got clobbered 91-69!! So it looks like Stinnett's antics are hurting his team once again. How long before he's kicked off for good?


Here's a surprise...
Villanova completely suspends a player and makes him ineligible through the end of the season after his invovement in a serious assault...
http://rushthecourt.net/2010/12/06/villanova-suspension-of-pinkston-best-move-for-all-involved/
Kind of a stark difference from what we've seen....
None of this coddling of rapists on the team and guys like Ryan Hare who were involved in several fights and assaults before he was let go...


Anyone recall there were those who claimed the Shockers' Garrett Stutz was a preseason all conference talent?? Some said Bradley ought to land players like this....
Now their only discussion about Stutz on their board is whether Stutz should have redshirted?
http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?t=12843&sid=07df74b89d8faca77ae7d1dfb80c6d77


Here's the quote of the day from other Valley message boards...
..after SIU's surprisingly close win over Chicago State...
"Is this the abyss?
Allowing the second-worst team in Division I this year to hang around until the final minute is not what I would call a positive."



Did you see this??
In Chicago -- "Total crime is down for the 23rd consecutive month"
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Murder-Rate-on-Par-to-be-Lowest-Since-1965-111349144.html

For nearly two years running, every month the crime rates are down and the murder rates are as low as they've been since before the Chicago Bulls existed, and Chicagoans watched the Chicago Zephyrs (mid-1960's).
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Murder-Rate-on-Par-to-be-Lowest-Since-1965-111349144.html

So what has happened to explain this??
I am sure lily-livered liberals will just say it's because the cops are doing a great job -- but they're NOT and even if they were, that cannot possibly explain it as most murders and crimes occur before a cop even knows something's up...so a good job just means they solve more crimes.

Nope -- there's other reasons...
One of the most obvious reasons - is that Chicago has been fudging their crime statistics...
Here's one story detailing just that -- Chicago police have changed their tactics and simply do not report the crimes as they once did.
At the end of this story is a poll showing 90% of Chicagoans do not believe the published Chicago crime stats and that it's just as dangerous there as ever.
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-muckrakers/2010/09/is-chicago-fudging-crime-statistics.html

But here's the real reason -- and it coincides precisely with the declining crime stats in Chicago...
Remember -- crime has declined EVERY month for the past 23 months...
so check what happened back then....

--Chicago has had a ban on hand guns since 1982 -- and in mid-summer of 2008, a Chicago law was passed strengthening the city's long held ban on hand guns...adding other weapons as well...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awIn1M4tWxi8

Guess what happens as a result of a law banning guns??
Well -- here's your answer --

Following the 1982 hand gun ban...
"Chicago followed a similar course. In the decade after it outlawed handguns, murders jumped by 41 percent, compared to an 18 percent rise in the entire United States."
(as did many other cities with similar bans...)

In other words -- after guns were outlawed, only outlaws had guns, and thus they were more emboldened and committed MORE crimes.

The reasons are multiple but predictable...because the worst criminals won't obey such a silly law but law-abiding citizens will thus tipping the scale so nobody can defend themselves and that emboldens the crooks.
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/04/chicagos-pointless-handgun-ban

-- IN 2008 - after the law was "strengthened" by adding other weapons and assault rifles, crime again took a big jump causing the crime stats in mid-2008, through the end of the year to skyrocket...
So... 24-30 months ago the crime rates were very high.....thus it was certainly easier for the rates to fall if they were, at that time, way high!

-- THEN, there was a MAJOR, solid LEGAL challenge to the Chicago law....first through the local courts...then headed to the Supreme Court -- but precedent in 2008 in a similar Washington, DC case, caused many to suspect that the Chicago ban would be overturned...and people started arming themselves again!
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/us/jan-june08/gunban_6-27.html

So people who were NOT crooks that wanted to own guns, were encouraged by all this and the Chicago officials lessened their prosecution and efforts to control legal gun ownership -- thus the non-crooks could finally fight back!

And -- finally -- for the first time in Chicago since 1982 -- there was a little emboldenment for the law abiding gun owners...and personal gun ownership began to rise!!!

In other words...more people could defend themselves because they owned or were carrying guns, and this un-emboldens crooks!

Then via the Supreme Court in 2009 -- specifically overturning the Chicago gun ban as well as the DC one...now people in the city can own guns to defend themselves, for a change!
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/28/court-rules-for-gun-rights-strikes-down-chicago-handgun-ban/

So -- can there be any doubt as to what is the single MOST important factor in the declining crime stats in Chicago over the past 23 months??
It is the fact that the gun toting crooks now never really know when they are breaking into your house, or acting like thugs on the street -- they never really know if the guy they're attacking might be aiming right back with a gun...so just maybe they are a little less inclined to be crooks and thugs...

Hmm....and did you notice how little mention of all this the standard press has given you -- the liberal press that wants tight gun laws even if they result in massive crime surges!
Nope -- but you can find the truth -- and the truth is NOT what you'll see in many newspapers nowadays.


BTW -- the big story out of Chicago, though, is that Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel forgot to get a Chicago city sticker for his car the past several years, thus raising serious doubt about his being a real resident of the city in that interval.
Tsk, tsk, Rahm....
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/12/06/circus-rahms-residency-objections

But, it's probably good for Chicagoans, as it means one less thug that might end up bullying their way and stealing the election from any legitimate contender.
http://www.bigbrassblog.com/index.php?itemid=2336



BTW -- even my wife noticed this one....today's PJ Star, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day had no mention whatsoever of it in their paper today -- none, despite that most newspapers have stories and features on their front pages!!
I know it's fading in the memories of many who write the papers, but it is still one of the most significant days in all of our history...far more significant that 9/11/2001 for many, many Americans....
But at least a mention maybe??

Nope-- Here's the PJS- not a mention..
http://www.pjstar.com/
Even a search of their online archives -- shows no mention, no stories, nothing...

For comparison...
the Pantagraph has this headline article:
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_5920fbb6-01a0-11e0-8d7a-001cc4c03286.html
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/vmix_63258354-018a-11e0-b6d0-001cc4c03286.html

And a simple news-google search finds that thousands of local papers had main stories on the anniversary...
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/galleries/pearl_harbor_69_years_later/pearl_harbor_69_years_later.html

But -- if you like hummingbirds -- this paper is for you...