America’s Murder Problem Is Concentrated in Small Areas

Are you shocked to discover that murder is concentrated in a small number of counties? America’s Murder Problem Is Smaller Than It Looks

World Cup visitors discovered something many Americans already know: The United States does not feel like the dangerous place they’ve been led to expect. That’s because America’s murder problem is not spread evenly across the country. Does the United States have a higher murder rate than its peer countries? Yes – but new research shows that statistic obscures how murders in the U.S. are extremely concentrated in very tiny areas.

There is good news even in the bad news. The 2025 murder rate for the entire country fell to 4 murders to 100,000 people, which was down from 5 per 100,000 people in 2024. Data from the first half of 2026 indicates that the rate fell another 18% in the 30 largest cities.

That 4% is historically low.

Since national recordkeeping began in 1900, the country has never recorded a murder rate this low. The previous record low was approximately 4.5 murders per 100,000 people.

As I noted in the title to this post, the problem is concentrated in small number of counties.

The research by the Crime Prevention Research Center, which I head, finds that 31 counties with the highest murder rates – just 1% of all U.S. counties – contain about 20% of the nation’s population but account for 41% of all murders.

There are more statistics on the concentration of murders, on the people who commit murder, etc. Click thru for that and more. (Hat tip to CPRC)

Chicago's Mayor Has Everyone Up In Arms

George Shay of Chicago Contrarian has the details. The Red Dawn of Realism: Why Brandon Johnson’s Base Is Fleeing Chicago's Progressive Circus

While I don't think Chicago is going to flip Red, I do think the Machine is seriously broken.

The 911 system is broken, not because of the 911 Center, or the operators, or dispatch, but because there are not enough police to maintain law and order. They can't investigate crimes, let alone respond to a crisis. (Click thru for those details. Call 911, and there is no patrol unit available to respond.)

By allowing our police districts to consistently fall into RAP [Radio Assignment Pending] status, the current administration has achieved something historic. They have bridged the traditional divides of Chicago geography. The South Side mother tired of local community centers being converted into unvetted migrant shelters now shares the exact same grievance as the Lincoln Park resident watching businesses shut down due to unchecked violence. They are both looking at a government that takes more and more of their money and, with property and other taxes, gives them more and more lawlessness in return.

As for the breakdown in the system:

The breakdown in the 18th District is a direct symptom of prioritizing political theater over core municipal functions. When an affluent North Side neighborhood experiences a two-hour window where zero police units are available to respond to an active, 50-person brawl, the social contract is completely broken.

It used to be a wonderful city. I went to college there. I worked there for a number of years. I spent Saturday afternoons in the art museums, and Saturday nights in the clubs. Now you couldn't pay me to set foot in the city, or at least not in any of the places I used to frequent.

Joseph Kahn on Saving Hollywood

From The Hollywood Reporter we get an opinion piece on how to save Hollywood. Bring Back the Hollywood Asshole: Joseph Kahn Opinion Column

Joseph Kahn is a Grammy-winning director, who has been involved, primarily, with music videos the past three decades. That apparently gets him an entry into Hollywood studios on a somewhat regular basis.

His radical idea? Hollywood needs to go back to making money, and for that Hollywood needs suits that understand business.

If you do not start making more movies about white guys flying fighter jets, the box office will not justify the monthly gardening bill at the Paramount lot, and you will be replaced by Larry Ellison’s AI or Netflix’s Deep-learning Algorithm Network Licensing Intelligence Node, aka DAN LIN™.

He talks a lot about what happened since COVID, but Hollywood's downfall started long before then.

So this is what we need you to do with your elite MBAs and high SAT scores: Get back to being a meritocracy. Drop the affectations. Best, most profitable idea wins. Hire crews and staff based on excellence, not what your favorite Harvard admissions counselor would love. Build movie stars. Learn what the poors want — people in flyover states who make less than $300,000 a year. Make sure those movie stars do not offend those poors by insulting Jesus or Tom Brady.

If they don't change the way they are running Hollywood, all we will get is the drek coming out of streaming. And yes, some of it is good. A lot of it is filler. Bad filler.

Remember that people's pensions are tied up with Hollywood. Not movie stars or executives, but people who build sets, and record sound, and do all of the other things that make movies and TV possible.

In my youth, back in the dark ages, going to the cinema was something we did on a regular basis. Dates consisting of dinner and a movie became so cliche that TBS adopted it as regular show from 1995 until 2011. Of course movies were not 3 hours, but closer to 90 minutes, which left time, for dinner, a movie, and a drink or dessert. 3 hour movies make that impossible, or at least unreasonable. And just groups of friends would go to the movies to watch the latest over-the-top action movie, or the romantic comedy.

Personally, I think it is too late for Hollywood, in the same way the auto industry will never again be concentrated in and around Detroit. And that's okay. I do hope it survives in some form, and not in the drek we've been getting from the likes of Amazon Prime (Rings of Power or The Wheel of Time) or Disney+ (Willow).

Wednesday Link Roundup - 29 July

William Teach at Pirate's Cove is up first with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Bustednuckles has relevant.
Don Surber has highlights of the week.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.28.26 (Morning Edition)

Dana Loesch: Looking For Truth In Israel
Don Surber: Journalism 2026

EBL - Fake Jake Tapper and Dr. Fauxi

Federalist: Fauci Covid Corruption
Dr. Fauci and the Mystery of the Wuhan Wet Market

Political Hat - News of the Week (July 26th, 2026)

Can Arizona Republicans Moderate Enough to Win Back the State?
Some Republicans fear the party is poised to repeat past mistakes by nominating candidates in Tuesday’s primaries who are viewed as too extreme to sway moderate voters.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 07.28.26 (Evening Edition)

Don Surber: Diary of a felon named Fauci
First Street Journal: Yet more conspiracy theories about Mitch McConnell

Don Surber - Highlights of the week

ITEM 7: The Hill reported, “Nicaragua’s Ortega moves to abolish elections.”
This will save money on stuffing the ballot box to re-elect him.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 7/25/2026

Finland Tops the Ranking
Finland recorded the highest unemployment rate among OECD countries at 10.8%, narrowly ahead of Spain at 10.3%.

Small Dead Animals - Saturday On Turtle Island

The Democrat Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – A counterrevolution. Jews should leave New York. Hollywood. White voters.
Conman Carney’s Canada: Wrecking ball revisionism. Accounting on graves. Muslim values.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - The Second Stab at the Nerd Prom

PJM's Cathy Salgado notes One Pennsylvania County Has 3,500 Noncitizens on Non-Juror List, Potentially Voting and Bob Spencer wonders Is Dem Fundraising Powerhouse ActBlue a Massive Money Laundering Machine? Yes …

The Glibertarians - Saturday evening Links

This one may actually hurt your brain.
The burn, it is sick.
Twofer.

Vlad Tepes - The Fabians and British politicians: Think of the DSA with a posh accent: Links post 1 for July 28, 2026

A primer on the Fabians. STRONGLY Recommended
2. Is it even possible to hate the CBC as much as it deserves without giving yourself a hemorrhagic stroke or a perforated ulcer?

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkange

The Shekel – Coins, Law, and Commentary – NYC: Allahu Akbar Yet Again
Woodsterman Babes ………….

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

Michael Chapman explains what shouldn’t – but, alas, what today nevertheless does – need explaining: Mao Zedong was a mass-murdering monster.

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Some Little Towns Are Trapped in Their Own Doom Loop
Is This the Reason Your Leftist Relatives Are Cutting You Off?

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 7/ 28 /26

How nonprofits used the “racial reckoning” to funnel millions of dollars into a radical agenda to transform St. Louis
A Decade After Michael Brown, Activists Still Rule Ferguson

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Apax Partners: Singham and the DNC

Canadian NATO Intern at Military HQ Arrested for Spying - CTH
Feds’ climate ‘attribution science’ report rebuked for influence from litigators, activists - Kevin Killough

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 07/28/2026

In this clip from the interview, [a CIA Officer] adds that it is known the Havana Syndrome is affecting government personnel, as well as civilians, and that CIA panicked at word Tulsi was investigating it, and one Officer destroyed some documents.

I leave you with Saturday’s You’ve Made it to the Weekend Meme Drop 7-25-26 from Midwest Chick's Place, Sunday Funnies For 07-26-26 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3970 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, Monday Morning Meme Madness from Twitchy, and Tuesday Memes … from MaddMedic.

Pensacola Police and Lawful Self-Defense

From WKRG in Mobile, Alabama. Pensacola police believe shooting that injured 1 was in self-defense

There was a shooting on July 24th that resulted in someone being shot in the arm.

According to police, the shot was fired in self-defense.

Detectives are working to determine how the shooting began and whether or not charges will be filed.

Florida is a bad place for bad guys. The bad guys keep not reading that memo.

Self-defense is a human right. (Hat tip to Keep and Bear Arms.)

You Cannot Fix a Problem You Don't Admit Exists

From Cops & Congress by Annie Dance we get the following. WATCH: Asheville Officials Link Deadly Downtown Shooting to Retaliatory Violence of 'Groups'

During questioning from reporters, Stepp was asked directly whether police considered the violence to be gang-related.

She stopped short of labeling the suspects as gang members.

“I would say these are two groups of individuals,” Stepp said. “I would say there are ties to them knowing each other and committing ongoing retaliatory acts against one another.”

But the problem is the legal gun owners in North Carolina, or so says Esther Manheimer, the Mayor of Asheville.

The mayor argued that North Carolina lawmakers have increasingly relaxed firearm laws over recent years, saying those policy decisions have contributed to more guns in communities.

Because she sees the law-abiding in the same frame as gang members, because she refuses to see that gangs exist. They are just groups of people. That's all.

“Personally, I would like to see gun ownership and the ability to carry a gun greatly restricted,” Manheimer said. “I don’t think it makes a community safer.”

Because otherwise she would have to deal with gangs and individuals, and not her totalitarian impulses to control the law abiding.

Choosin' Texas

Any excuse to piss off the libs...

Apparently the Left is still distressed by Country Music, especially when it becomes very popular. From The Western Journal by way of social media. Leftists Seethe as Ella Langley's Chart-Topping Country Song Makes History

Country music superstar Ella Langley suddenly finds herself in the company of legends.

But through no fault of her own, this development has apparently triggered the world’s most miserable people: Online liberals.

Her song, which is featured today, is #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the 14th week in a row. The Left is distraught, because that is what Leftists do, wallow in misery.

“Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley is now tied as the longest-running non-holiday female solo #1 hit in history on the Hot 100.

While not all country singers love America, a lot do. And most folks who listen to Country love America. That is apparently enough

This song is "Choosin' Texas" by Ella Langley from here 2025 album Dandelion.

Hat tip to Gateway Pundit.

Tuesday Links - 28 July

Virtual Mirage is first with an update on the sad state of Privacy. Trading Privacy for Safety?

You’ve likely been flocked, possibly without your knowledge. There are also flocking deniers. “I’m sure I haven’t been flocked!” What am I talking about? If you don’t know what Flock cameras are, here is AI’s description…

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Oh Noes, Some American Cities Will Never Drop Below 50F By 2100

Obviously, no one will be fired for this bit of Scaremongering, because no one will remember it. It’s meant to scare people into giving up their money and freedom to Government right now

Libs of TikTok - WEEKLY WRAP: LOTT GETS 4 BIG WINS

2. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation staffer FIRED for not complying with ICE

Shannon Desherow, an Assistant General Counsel for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, posted a video of herself online having an unhinged meltdown, where she appeared to threaten ICE

Michael Schwarz, of The Western Journal, by way of The Gateway Pundit - Leftists Seethe as Ella Langley’s Chart-Topping Country Song Makes History

Older men, to be clear, probably have no business writing about contemporary music. After all, I confess that until today I had never heard of Langley.

The exercise, however, has not been in vain, for anything that irritates liberals is, by definition, a good thing.

No Tricks Zone - Greenland’s Ice Sheet Was Supposed To Be Rapidly Melting Away. It Hasn’t Been.

Greenland is halfway through its current (2025-2026) melt season. So far it’s not looking good for the alarmist narrative.

The Other McCain - Criminal Carnival in Madison, Wisconsin

The fact that a drug-addicted career criminal fresh out of prison was wandering the streets of Madison is not surprising. What is surprising is that, when the aforesaid criminal was accused of stealing bicycles and attempting to burglarize vehicles in broad daylight, the Madison police actually tried to arrest him:

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 26 July 2026: No Skorking Edition

The US has accused a citizen re-entering the country of giving the CBP a "duress" password that wiped his phone. (Tech Crunch)

Do not do this. Whatever you think about border agents scrolling through your sick memes, anything you don't want on your phone you should simply not have on your phone when you cross the border.

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: At Last, The Draft

Son of Silvercon IV went well – Tim Powers was a fantastic guest, and everybody had a good time – but I came home with a terrible cold (or some kind of virus) and I’m only now starting to bounce back from.

Miguel Gonzalez - Their actions will always be right.

To denounce the 30-month sentence after the plea as unduly harsh when he could have gotten 20 years just reeks political idiocy or the firm belief that striking the head of the ICE agent with a rock was not only legally justified but morally righteous.

Defensive Gun Uses in February

From Crime Prevention Research Center: Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns: 21 Cases During February 2026

The Crime Prevention Research Center is compiling lists of legal self-defense incidents.

From Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on February 2nd, through Saint Louis, Missouri, on February 28th, there are 21 cases of self-defense by legal concealed carry license holders.

Sweden Is Lost

From Peter Sweden we get the following: The SHOCKING court verdict from Sweden.

What I’m about to tell you has barely been covered in the international news.

The things happening in Sweden now is beyond belief. I’m simply lost for words at this court ruling.

A 40-year-old raped a 14-year-old girl with autism and ADHD.

Not only did the court not deport the man, but he didn’t even get any prison. He was set free.

Click thru for the insane reason.

The prosecutor is not happy with the verdict and is appealing to the Svea Court of Appeal.

I miss Western Civilization.

Journalists Or Chinese Apologists?

Natalie Winters brings us a not-to-surprising story of "Professional Journalists." REVEALED: Here Are the Mainstream Journalists on China’s Payroll

I was going to call them agents, and maybe they are, but let's start with "apologists."

Foreign-agent filings reveal that operatives working for a Chinese Communist Party-linked influence organization planned free trips for American journalists based on the potential for “favorable coverage” and sought to “effectively disseminate positive messages” about Beijing.

But the filings did not plainly identify the reporters who received the access.

By cross-referencing the filings with archived newsletters, annual reports and contemporaneous accounts, this investigation has uncovered the names of prominent American journalists who participated in China trips organized or funded by the China-United States Exchange Foundation, or CUSEF.

Trips to China in exchange for favorable treatment of China in the press. Allegedly, anyway.

That is what passes for "Professional Journalistic Ethics." Some would call that quid pro quo.

Hat tip to The Twitchy Team, who called it exactly that.

In a breaking thread that is going viral on X today, White House Correspondent for the Bannon War Room, Natalie Winters, has just exposed a GIGANTIC list of 'journalists' who were treated to CCP-funded trips to China—and more—allegedly in exchange for favorable coverage of the country. The quid pro quo reportedly goes back as far as 2009.

Here is the original post from X.

REVEALED: Here Are the Mainstream Journalists on China’s Payroll 🚨

I exclusively uncovered the identities of prominent U.S. journalists flown to China by a CCP-linked influence operation seeking “favorable coverage” and “positive messages” about Beijing. 🧵

— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) July 27, 2026

Why Does the Smith Chart Scare Engineers?

Is it really the scariest chart in electrical engineering? Maybe not.

It's scary, but it's also damn useful.

I think there are 2 reasons that engineers find the Smith Chart intimidating. The first is simple. People learn Cartesean Coordinates in middle school. They get exposed to just enough of the Polar Coordinate system to hate it, and not enough to know when it is useful. So in the end, they don't like anything that doesn't look like a standard X-Y plane.

The second reason is that the chart itself is based on Imaginary numbers (the Square root of -1), and they don't trust the math enough to just use it. even though it has been shown to work.

This is the Veritasium video The Scariest Chart in Electrical Engineering

Well, and a fair number of the charts do say "Black Magic Design" on the chart itself. It does simplify certain calculations around antenna design; that can seem magical.

We've verified that this crazy map switch from the complex plane to the reflection coefficient plane leading to these insane appearing circles, they actually mean something. Like, in real life we've used it to increase the power. Crazy. It is crazy.

I first encountered the Smith Chart in college, and later when I was getting/upgrading my Ham radio license. The video is long, at 40 minutes, but I enjoyed it.

Run

Floor Jansen is one of my favorite Heavy Metal singers. She was lead singer for After Forever until 2007 (?) when that group disbanded. She then joined Nightwish, which was one of my favorite bands before they parted ways with Tarja. Aside from a few other projects, she also started a solo career.

From Louder we get a fairly standard publicity blurb. “It feels like the start of something heavier and more direct”: Nightwish’s Floor Jansen returns with metallic new single Run and announces 2027 tour dates

The song brings the Dutch singer back to her symphonic metal roots, following her detour into pop-rock with her 2023 debut solo album Paragon. It also likely precedes the release of her second album, which is as-yet-unannounced. Listen below.

This is "Run" by Floor Jansen. It was released as a single on June 26th. So does this mean it is still "new music?"

I'm Not in Favor of Vigilantism

She found a 20-year-old hiding in her 13-year-old daughter's room. Woman charged with shooting man found under daughter's bed

This is a story out of Memphis.

The man, who has been identified as Rodderius Morton, was pronounced dead after suffering from a gunshot wound to the back of his head, police reported.

A woman, later identified as Kendra Scott, stated to police that she “saw a dude under my kids’ bed, and I did what I had to do.”

If that was the whole story, it might be different, but after she ordered him to leave, she shot him on the front porch/ front lawn of the home. She shot him at close range, in the back of the head. He did not survive.

Hard to claim he was an imminent threat to anyone under those conditions.

Once Scott and Morton made it to the front porch, the juvenile said she heard one gunshot.

Scott does not have a bond set and is scheduled to appear in court Monday.

Self-defense doesn't mean you can shoot anyone whenever you think it is a good idea. You cannot even shoot people who you believe are doing bad things to family members. You may think she was justified. You may think that a 20-year-old in a 13-year-old's bedroom is a problem, but I am not quite ready to give up on the idea of law and order.

I imagine that a lot of people will say she did it to save her daughter. How saved is her daughter, right now? Her mother is in jail, facing serious prison time for murder. (Hat tip to Concealed Nation.)

This is Colion Noir's take on the incident. Man Hiding Under Child’s Bed Shot In Back Of Head

Department of Justice versus Virgin Islands Gun and Magazine Ban

It is nice that the DOJ is sort of on the side of the gun owner these days. DOJ Targets Virgin Islands Assault Weapon and Magazine Ban

New Jersey tried to limit magazines at 10. The appeals court said no way. The US Virgin Islands selected 15 rounds. The DOJ says nope.

The filing came just five days after the en banc Third Circuit struck down New Jersey’s bans on semi-automatic rifles and magazines holding more than ten rounds in Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Attorney General New Jersey, formerly known as the Cheeseman case.

Because the U.S. Virgin Islands falls within the Third Circuit, the DOJ argues that territorial officials cannot enforce essentially the same unconstitutional restrictions under a different numerical cutoff.

Click thru for details and SCRIBID document of the DOJ's filing.

Hollywood Is Dying

I love movies, but increasingly I say that I love old movies, because I haven't seen anything in years, that interested me. Even The Hollywood Reporter is covering the problems, so you know they're bad. Los Angeles Filming Levels Down Amid State Recovery Effort

Since I'm not really a fan of horror these days, I haven't seen Obsession, Iron Lung, or Backrooms. I suppose I will seem them eventually.

The number of shoot days in the three-month period from April to June fell 12 percent compared to the same period last year.

The article spends a lot of time covering the tax incentives in place, and that L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is lobbying to increase.

It doesn't cover all the other insane requirements of permitting in LA, or the dictates of the unions, but then you don't really expect that from The Hollywood Reporter. (I think of that "news outlet" more as a cheering section than real journalism at this point.)

Hat tip to the Film Threat News video LA FILMING LEVELS CONTINUE TO TUMBLE

The problem with Hollywood is it's a hostile work environment.
    — Alan Ng

The Other McCain on Tucker C.

From The Other McCain: My Own Tucker Carlson Theory

Raise your hand if you have a beef with the Republican Party establishment. Everybody’s hand is up, am I correct? Now, keep your hand up if you feel that the Official Conservative Movement is often ineffective and sometimes not really conservative at all. Pretty much everyone still has their hand up, I believe. It is fair to say that, the more conservative you are, the more discontented you are with the institutions and “leaders” who are supposed to represent your point of view.

At the same time, however, what are you going to do? We try as much as we can to steer things in the right direction, and occasionally express our outrage at the ballot box — hat-tip to those Texans who finally dumped John Cornyn — but we know that it’s bad tactics to form circular firing squads. Keep your fire aimed downrange is always good advice in politics, and there are always plenty of liberals targets to aim at.

Click thru for the whole thing.

Personally I have been mad at the Republicans in Congress for a very long time. At least since GWB was in office, and probably longer than that.

That said, I find the insanity on the right more of a distraction, than anything of interest.

Woke Games versus Profitable Games

Seplay is a YouTube channel that focuses on video games. While I might not follow that channel, this video on what Woke has done to an industry is interesting, especially since he does a credible job of tracking down the numbers.

This is the Seplay video Do Woke Games Actually Sell? The Numbers Don’t Lie

Over the past few years, we've been asking the same question to the gaming industry. Why do game studios insist, I mean really insist on political correctness and DEI on video games?

If you ask me, I think political correctness, aka wokeness, is killing the gaming industry. Sales are failing. There are giant layoffs. Studios are closing down. There are too many examples. Concord, Dragon Age, The Vanguard, Star Wars Outcast, ...

He does admit that some woke games, such as The Last of Us: Part 2, sold well. That was in part due to the excitement generated in Part 1. Though if I'm reading the market correctly, they killed all chance of continuing the franchise.

The video is about 12 and a half minutes.

I found this by way of Side Scrollers.

A Pirate's Cove Musical Interlude

William Teach at Pirate's Cove brings us a musical interlude. Music Saturday: Candy Dulfer

The album Live in Amsterdam was recorded during a live performance by Candy Dulfer and her band at the Paradiso concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in October 2000. [Grokipedia]

First up you will find "Lily Was Here (Live)" by Candy Dulfer, with accoustic guitar by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. It was released in 2001 as part of the album Live in Amsterdam.

The 2nd song at the link is "The Grand Conjuration" by Opeth from the 2005 album, Ghost Reveries.

Enjoy.