State:
The Chicago Police Department reports that crime rates have decreased in comparison to statistics from January 2013. Chicago is the reason why Illinois is listed as the most violent state in all of America, with over 415 homicides at the end of 2013. According to Chicago-land police departments, the crime rate has decreased 18% from 2012.
Rahm Emmanuel, mayor of Chicago, employed a new superintendent of police in an effort to stop these crimes and was able to decrease the number of 50 homicides per every 100,000 residents to 43 homicides. These statistics are still frightening, but it is evident that their efforts are working.
Illinois seems to be one in many states that are following a national trend of a decrease in homicide. Los Angeles and Philadelphia both saw decreases in homicide, and this trend is expected to continue throughout 2014. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2012, 26 out of every 1,000 people were victims of rape, robbery or assault, a rise of 15% from the year before.
National:
On January 28, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address speech in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives while millions of Americans watched at home. Disregarding John Boehner and Joe Biden’s usual antics, the State of the Union went according to plan.
Obama talked about change, improvements in American health care, immigration reform, improvements to education, and “strong diplomacy,” but what was most talked of was the change in minimum wage. In his speech, President Obama promised an increase in the minimum wage for federal contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10. President Obama argues that increasing the minimum wage will help support the economy through greater spending and is morally the right thing to do.
This attempt to battle income inequality has been shut down in the past, but President Obama is relentless in his efforts to increase it. Those opposing an increase of minimum wage argue that the increase in price will cause businesses to start firing workers, thus resulting in an increase in unemployment. President Obama is expected to present the idea of increasing the national minimum wage again on February 4th in order to gain more ground in Congress.
International:
On January 31, Indonesian extremists joined thousands of foreign militants in the fight against the Syrian Government.
The report indicates that Indonesian extremists have joined the fight in order to help establish an Islamic state in place of Bashar Al-Assad’s presidency.
The Indonesians believed that joining the conflict in Syria was predicted in Islamic lore and eschatology. They believe that the final battle at the end of time will take place in Sham, the region called Greater Syria or Levant. As many as 11,000 foreign fighters have poured into Syria through the Middle East and North Africa. These fighters include radicalized Muslims from Europe, Australia, Asia and even South America.
This radicalized pilgrimage is expected to arise concerns for Indonesia. “One [concern] is the return of foreign fighters and providing leadership to the very weak and incompetent Jihadi movement,” said Sidney Jones, the institute director of the report. “Second, the process of raising funds for Syria could strengthen the resource base of groups in Indonesia, such as Jemaah Islamiyah,” she said, referring to the Southeast Asian terrorist network linked to Al Qaeda.
There is a lot of uncertainty that lies in the midst of the newly enrolled rebels, and foreign diplomats are considering actually sending UN troops into Syria. There is an imminent threat coming from terrorist organizations taking hold of Syrian strongholds and militias. The future of Syria’s government depends on the actions taken by an international body. If not, atrocities will continue to happen and instability will continue to decimate a once prosperous nation.