52 Shot, 10 Killed as “Summer Violence Season” in Chicago Heats Up

At least 52 people were shot and 10 were murdered in the most violent weekend in Chicago thus far in 2019. Eight of the murder victims were shot, and two were stabbed. The violence eclipsed that of the long Memorial Day weekend in which 43 were shot, seven of them fatally.

Chicago police believe that most of the people shot were targeted by gangs. Deputy Chief Al Nagode, who oversees the city’s west side where much of the violence emanated from, said the shootings were “not random” and appear to be motivated by a disputed open-air drug market in the city.

At least two of the murders were likely incidents of domestic violence, according to the Chicago police.

“I can tell you, weekends like this, all our officers take this very personal,” Nagode said. “We faced formidable challenges with gang factions settling conflicts with gun violence.”

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called the weekend violence “despicable” and said it shows that “the challenges we face are complex and profound.”

“I know I speak for everyone at CPD when I say we take these shootings seriously, and there’s a heightened sense of urgency and care when it comes to gun violence in this city,” Johnson said during a Monday press conference.

More than half the victims were murdered or wounded in a twelve-hour stretch beginning Friday night and extending into Saturday morning. According to Johnson, the violence began on the city’s west side and spilled into downtown. Violence also flared on the city’s south side and moved into other neighborhoods as the night went on.

Beginning Saturday, police initiated targeted patrols in areas where gang retaliations were expected. The targeted patrols yielded 19 arrests on gun charges and the confiscation of over 90 illegally obtained guns. Johnson also said that the department has some “very good leads” on some of the homicides and expects to make more arrests soon.

Thus far this year in Chicago, 206 people have been murdered. That’s actually down 5 murders from the same time period last year. A total of 561 homicides occurred last year, which was down from 2016, when homicides reached a 19-year-high of 777.

The 561 murders for 2018 year outnumbered New York (289 homicides) and Los Angeles (256 homicides) combined.

https://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/32522-52-shot-10-killed-as-summer-violence-season-in-chicago-heats-up

Opioid Manufacturer Insys Therapeutics Agrees to Enter $225 Million Global Resolution of Criminal and Civil Investigations

Company Admits Illegal Conduct Regarding Promotion of Subsys, a Powerful Opioid Painkiller.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/opioid-manufacturer-insys-therapeutics-agrees-enter-225-million-global-resolution-criminal

US, Mexico Trade Officials Fail to Strike Deal on Tariffs, Immigration - Reports

Mexican representatives met with senior Trump administration officials on Wednesday in the White House in an attempt to convince Washington to forgo plans to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods to force the government in Mexico City to stop the flow of migrants from Central America into the United States.

A meeting between senior US and Mexican officials on immigration and trade concluded on Wednesday without a deal, NBC News reported, citing a senior administration official.

The bilateral talks came days before the 5% tariffs on all Mexican imports were set to come into force. The tariffs were slated to take effect on 10 June, as it was announced earlier by US President Donald Trump, who noted at the time that the last-minute talks are unlikely to stop the tariffs from going into effect.

Earlier in the day, Reuters reported citing Mexican government sources, that Mexico wouldn't accept "safe third country status" which would require Central American asylum claimants to seek refuge in Mexico instead of the United States.

https://sputniknews.com/us/201906061075670570-us-mexico-trade-fail-deal-tariffs-immigration/

Goodbye Middle Class: The Percentage Of Wealth Owned By The Top 10% Just Got Even BIGGER

The middle class in America is being systematically eviscerated, and it is getting worse with each passing year. As you will see below, one new study has found that 10 percent of Americans now own 70 percent of all the wealth. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most vibrant middle class in the history of the world, but pretty soon we are just going to have the ultra-wealthy and everyone else. Our system has been designed to funnel as much wealth as possible to the very top of the financial pyramid, and that means that most of the rest of us are deeply struggling. And when you are just barely getting by from month to month, all it takes is one bad break to knock you completely out of the middle class and into poverty.

I have been chronicling the demise of the middle class for many years, but I didn’t know that the numbers had gotten this bad. According to a study that was recently conducted by the Federal Reserve, the percentage of wealth controlled by the top 10 percent of U.S. households has shot up from 60 percent in 1989 to 70 percent today…

Deutsche Bank’s Torsten Sløk says that the distribution of household wealth in America has become even more disproportionate over the past decade, with the richest 10% of U.S. households representing 70% of all U.S. wealth in 2018, compared with 60% in 1989, according to a recent study by researchers at the Federal Reserve.

The study finds that the share of wealth among the richest 1% increased to 32% from 23% over the same period.

The ironic thing is that the Federal Reserve has actually done much to cause this high concentration of wealth among the elite. In response to the last financial crisis, the Federal Reserve pumped unprecedented amounts of money into the financial system, and this has created the greatest stock market bubble in our history…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.06% has climbed nearly 300% since its closing low in March 2009, the S&P 500 index SPX, +2.14% has climbed 325%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +2.65% has soared 535% over the same period.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/goodbye-middle-class-the-percentage-of-wealth-owned-by-the-top-10-just-got-even-bigger