In The Mailbox: 09.18.23

Posted on | September 19, 2023 | No Comments

Off to Las Vegas tomorrow for medical appointment and NSSAB meeting. Blogging may be sporadic. Meanwhile, if you can help out Doug Hagin of The DaleyGator, please do.
Silicon Valley delenda est.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: The Implosion Of Hollywood & The Fight For The Culture
Director Blue: Book Review – The Democrat Party Hates America
EBL: Ken Paxton Acquitted: Bush Family Biggest Losers, September was not a good month for Libya and Morocco, One of our…F-35s…is missing, tonight, and National Cheeseburger Day
Twitchy: Lauren Boebert’s Back On The Market, Boys!, Play Stupid Games Win Stupid Prizes, and Krassenstein Posts Video Promoting Sleepy Joe As “Man Of The People” & Steps On Gigantic Rake
Louder With Crowder: Woke pop tart Maren Morris QUITS country music, claims the genre’s current success is just “to own the libs”, Aaron Rodgers wrecks Keith Olbermann’s face, gives perfect five-word response to unhinged attacks, Homeless Camp In Denver Features Pop-Up Bar With Rentable Prostitution Tents, and Handcuffed football fan (in sick overalls) still manages to knock dude the f*** out with a single headbutt
Vox Popoli: China Governs Its Own People, Some Doubts About Natural Rights, The Cancellation of Russell Brand, Two Thoughts About Fame, and The US Will Lose the Next War
Stoic Observations: North Of Nebraska

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: My Farming Season
American Conservative: The Political Assassination of Donald Trump, Beating Brandon, Richard Nixon’s Last Crusade, If Artsakh Falls, and Biden Must Justify This War
American Greatness: FBI Received Information from Second Informant Against Biden, then Shut Him Down, How Biden Will Circle the Wagons, and Schumer Ditches Senate’s Dress Code to Accommodate Fetterman’s Hoodies
American Power: Top Democrats’ Bullishness on Biden 2024 Collides With Voters’ Worries
American Thinker: The Dems’ Big Lie, The Real Threat to Our Democracy, To Market, to Market, and Who is Seth Rich? Who Murdered Him? And What’s The Deep State Hiding?
Animal Magnetism: Goodbye, Blue Monday
Babalu Blog: Castro dictatorship tries to cover its tracks after they’re caught sending Cubans to Russia to fight in Ukraine, Cuban dictatorship sends slave teachers who can’t speak English to the Bahamas, A highly scandalized Vladimir Putin accuses Pinochet of poisoning Chilean communist poet Pablo Neruda……Le RRRRRRRONCA!, Soldiers from Cuba, Russia, China, Venezuela, and Nicaragua participate in Independence Day parade in Mexico, and Texas AG Ken Paxton should go after Biden, not fellow Republicans
BattleSwarm: Was the Yugo As Bad As Critics Said? Yes, BREAKING: Paxton Acquitted, and More Tech Companies Cancelling San Francisco Conferences
Behind The Black: SpaceX launches another 22 Starlink satellites, China launches military reconnaissance satellite, Russian investigators pin down cause of Luna-25 failure, India’s Aditya-L1 solar telescope initiates some science observations, and Federal government continues to block the return of Varda’s commercial capsule, carrying drugs to treat HIV
Cafe Hayek: James Buchanan Rightly Opposed UCLA’s Hiring of Angela Davis, Market Competition Is a Process of Creativity and Discovery, and More on Angela Davis
CDR Salamander: Future Casting, Predictions, & Some Context On The Age Of Transformation, also, The Indo-Pacific Quad In 2023
Chicago Boyz: Of Springs and Cables, also, Technology, Regulation, Capitalism, and Innovation
Da Tech Guy: AI will only take your job if you’re a crappy journalist, an Admiral or General, or a moron, Larry From Larry’s Music Loft, Five Quick One Liner Reminders Under the Fedora, and DaTechGuy’s (Nearly) Daily Pintastic NE posts: Homebrews and Circuit Meltdown brought to you by North Metro Tech Wakefield MA
Don Surber: The Elite 0.2%
First Street Journal: Democrats really, really hate our constitutional rights! (Part 2), also, The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend
Gates Of Vienna: Comms Failure, Lampedusa is Full Up, and Lampedusa Says: Basta!
The Geller Report: Trump Exposed the Rot and Fraud of the Elites, Biden Regime Instructs Their Media Lapdogs To Suppress Coverage of Charges Against Biden, Biden Wants to Shrink Marine Sanctuary That Protects Endangered Whales to Accommodate Wind Energy Factory Owned By Dem Donor, Texas Republican Attorney General Paxton Acquitted in Vicious Impeachment Ruse, and SHOCKING VIDEOS: Trains, Massive Transports of Thousands of Migrants Shipped to USA, “It’s a Pipeline. It’s All Coordinated. It’s All Controlled”
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, NGC 3156, Don’t Know Much About History, and Messier 15
Hollywood In Toto: Hasan Minhaj’s ‘Victim’ Act, Maren Morris’ Self-Own Says Everything, and Russell Brand’s Career Is Officially Over (…but)
The Lid: This Extremely Important Indicator Is Absolutely Screaming That A Recession Is Coming, Did Country Bear Jamboree Invite A REAL Bear To Disney World?, and Hunter Biden Sues His Daddy’s IRS
Legal Insurrection: Florida State University Cancels ‘Race and Gender’ Course After Only Two Students Enroll, Conservatives Unload on Fetterman Over Senate Dress Code Requirement, “I Only Treat Real Women”, New Student Body President at Baylor University Shrinks Cabinet by 57%, Dove Soap Hires Toxic BLM Activist As ‘Fat Ambassador,’ Calls To ‘Bud Light’ Dove Intensify, and Vanderbilt Prof Thinks Fictional Works About Climate Change Are Too White
Nebraska Energy Observer: Saturday – just for you, Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, and Monday
Outkick: Deion Sanders Made Over $1 Million Since Jay Norvell Called Him Out Over Sunglasses. Coach Prime Should Split The Profits, Tennessee Fan Rushes Florida Field To ‘Lift Fans Spirits’ During Deflating Loss, Gets Three-Year Ban From ‘The Swamp’, Colorado State DB Henry Blackburn, Who Delivered Controversial Hit To Travis Hunter, Reportedly Receiving Death Threats, Shaq Stars In Humorous Police Recruitment Video, Bills Honor Takeo Spikes Then Give Him The Worst Seat In The Stadium Forcing Him To Leave Win Over Raiders Early, and Florida/Tennessee Game Ends In Brawl After Cheap Shot
Power Line: Making the Case For Capital Punishment, Trump Failed the Covid Test, “My Right As a Candidate”, and The Daily Chart: Follow the COVID Money
Shark Tank: Waltz Calls On Biden To Clarify Ukraine Strategy
Shot In The Dark: True Misogyny, also, F5 Tornado Of Vapidity
The Political Hat: In Academia, It Isn’t Corruption If It Is For A Good Cause
This Ain’t Hell: The Pentagon orders more interviews related to the Kabul airport suicide attack, Kansas City resident startled by Army exercise near his neighborhood, Army re-ups exceeding expectations (so bonuses suspended), General Mark Milley says that the military is not woke, US military asks for help to find missing F-35 fighter jet after ‘mishap’ sees pilot eject, and Personality and Psychology Testing for Dummies
Transterrestrial Musings: Rent Control, Newton’s First Law, Water On The Moon, Six Thoughts On Elon Musk, and Trump’s Foolish Gamble
Victory Girls: If Trump Wants To Be “Liked” On Abortion, We Are In Big Trouble, J.D. Vance Has Questions About Ukrainian Trans Propagandist, and F-35 Crash In South Carolina Raises Real Issues About Our Military
Volokh Conspiracy: Why President Trump is an “Officer” who Can be Disqualified From Holding Public Office Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment [Updated]
Watts Up With That: Labour In A Spin Over Green Steel Job Losses, Another Stupid Los Angeles Times Climate Alarmist Propaganda Claim, Clean Energy Dirty Tricks? A $500 Gift Card for Signing Over Your Property Rights, and ‘Biden’s EV mandates are a controlled demolition of the U.S. auto industry’
The Federalist: Democrats’ Double Standard On Judicial Impartiality Is Obvious From Wisconsin To Washington, Trump Is Right. Democrats Support No Limits On Abortion, Ken Paxton Acquitted On All Charges While Austin Swamp Creatures Shriek, Wisconsin Republicans Vote To Oust Top Election Official Following Messy And Chaotic 2020 Election, 5 Wrong Predictions Ruining Democrats’ Plan For 2024, and Leftists’ Open-Border And Defund-Police Policies Have Come Home To Roost
Mark Steyn: No Mercy: David Lean, the Law and Great Expectations, Spirits of the Age, and A Hundred Years of Hank

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Category: Linkagery

Quashawn, Rashan, and ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ in Polk County

Posted on | September 18, 2023 | No Comments

Say hello to Quashawn Burgess Jr. and, while you’re at it, you can go ahead and say good-bye, because Quashawn joined the choir invisible last week, bleeding out in the driveway of a Florida home:

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called on the public for information after a 15-year-old who may have been a gang member was found shot dead Tuesday morning in a driveway near Winter Haven.
The sheriff said deputies received a 911 call around 2:30 a.m. after a boy was found dead on a driveway on St. Paul Drive.
Judd said one of the witnesses got off of work and was staying with a friend. She pulled into the home’s driveway on St. Paul Drive and called her friend to tell her there was a person lying in the driveway.
Judd identified the 15-year-old as Quashawn Burgess Jr. with permission from his mother to help with the investigation.
His mother went to bed at 10 p.m. with an infant, and Burgess was sitting on the couch. When she woke up at 3 a.m. to tend to the baby, she noticed Burgess was not on the couch and assumed he went to bed, according to Judd.
His mother said he was a good kid, but as he got older he went down the wrong path and began getting into trouble, Judd said. He was on probation for a burglary charge that was reduced to trespassing.
Judd said Burgess was violating his probation because he was supposed to be enrolled in school but wasn’t going. . . .
Burgess had been arrested twice, both since May 2023, Judd said.
“I’d rather them be alive in jail than across the street in the medical examiner’s office, dead like Quashawn is right now,” Judd said.
Judd said the violence is being encouraged by social media.
“They’re listening to this gangster rap, they’re watching these videos, they’re making their own videos,” he said. “It’s cool to do. It’s not cool to die. Death is forever. And cool warms up real quick in the morning. When the beer’s warm, it’s no more fun.”
Judd said it’s time for communities across the state and nation to step up and address the issue.
“They don’t show you the last chapter of the book,” Judd said. “The last chapter, one of you is dead, and the other is life in prison.”

Because he didn’t like going to school, Quashawn probably never read the Lemony Snicket books, A Series of Unfortunate Events. But there is an interesting and somewhat ironic narrative to how he reached that final chapter, bleeding out in a Winter Haven driveway:

Four suspects with criminal histories have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a teenage gang member in Winter Haven.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the body of 15-year-old Quashawn Burgess, Jr., was discovered deceased around 2:30 a.m. on September 12, in a Winter Haven driveway by a woman who was on her way to spend the night at a friend’s house after work.
Deputies who canvassed the neighborhood say witnesses reported hearing a noise that sounded like a “pop” around 12:30 a.m. but thought it was fireworks.
When deputies notified Burgess’ mother of his death, she told them that she was unaware that he was not home sleeping during the evening hours. She said she saw him on her living room couch at 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 when she went to bed.
Sheriff Grady Judd gives an update after four suspects were arrested in connection with a 15-year-old found dead on a Winter Haven driveway.
When detectives arrived at her house, she went to his bedroom and confirmed he was not there and told them that she did not know when he had left or where he had gone.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a series of events that led up to Burgess’ death began when Lilia Gonzalez, who is a convicted felon, contacted Jase Govia, 23, because she wanted to buy a gun. Since she is a convicted felon, she is not legally allowed to purchase a firearm. Govia lives across the street from Gonzalez in what, Sheriff Judd calls a “weed house” he runs with his cousin 34-year-old Pierre Sauveur.
Govia, according to Sheriff Judd, put Gonzalez in touch with 20-year-old Rashan Harris.
“He’s 20 years of age and he’s already got 53 felony charges against him, 25 misdemeanor charges against him and he’s been to jail,” Sheriff Judd shared. “He got one year in jail. So, we take him out of the ability to commit crime for one year and he still has 53 felonies.”
According to PCSO, Gonzalez and Harris met at a Circle K and he sold her a gun for $200 that had been stolen during a Lakeland burglary in which Harris was a suspect.
Later that evening, investigators say Harris called Gonzalez and told her he wanted to sell her more bullets. Though detectives say Gonzalez thought it was a strange request, she gave him her address.
Along the way, Harris picked up Burgess, who Sheriff Judd says wanted to buy marijuana from the “weed house” across the street.
“None of these people work. The 15-year-old is not in school. Every one of them lied about everything,” Sheriff Judd said.
According to Sheriff Judd, Burgess got out of the car and Gonzalez eventually got in the passenger side. Sheriff Judd says Harris and Gonzalez talked about bullets and sex while inside the car.
However, Sheriff Judd shared that while Gonzalez was talking to Harris, she felt like things didn’t seem right. Moments later, detectives say Burgess opened the passenger side door to rob Gonzalez at gunpoint.
According to PCSO, Gonzalez was holding onto her purse, which was strapped across her side body as Burgess is trying to pull her pocketbook off her.
“Apparently, they forgot they sold her this gun,” Sheriff Judd stated. “So, now Lillia pulls the gun out of her pocketbook because she’s being robbed at gunpoint and shoots Quashawn who’s robbing her. Did you hear what I said? You can’t make this stuff up.”
Sheriff Judd said after the shooting, Gonzalez ran into her home and Harris took off, leaving Burgess to die on the driveway.
Sheriff Judd added that Gonzalez fled the area for three days and was taken into custody when she returned.
Gonzalez told deputies that she was being robbed and was defending herself when she shot and killed Burgess.
“At this point in the investigation, she is apparently the victim of a robbery whereby she defended herself and shot the suspect, Quashawn and Rashon confirms that,” Sheriff Judd stated.
However, deputies arrested Gonzalez on several charges including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, dealing in stolen property, tampering with evidence, grand theft of a firearm, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, maintaining residence where controlled substances are illegally kept, possession of paraphernalia.
“When you live by the gun, you die by the gun,” Sheriff Judd stated.
Harris has been charged with second degree murder, attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, dealing in stolen property, grand theft of a firearm, tampering with evidence, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, giving false info to a law enforcement officer during a capital felony investigation, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and violation of probation.
Govia has been charged with maintaining residence where controlled substances are illegally kept, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of marijuana over 20 grams, possession of paraphernalia.
Sauveur has been arrested for maintaining residence where controlled substances are illegally kept, giving false info to a law enforcement officer during a capital felony investigation, possession of marijuana over 20 grams, and possession of paraphernalia.
“These folks have been in prison,” Sheriff Judd explained. “They’ve been in the jail. They all have criminal histories. At the end of the day, we’ve got a 15-year-old kid that’s dead and mom said I’ve got a 15-year-old kid I can’t do anything with him.”

In case you weren’t following all that, Gonzales is a convicted felon, but wanted to buy a gun. So she asked her drug dealer, who hooked her up with Rashan, who had a pistol stolen in a burglary. After selling her this gun for $200, Rashan apparently got the idea of robbing Gonzales — because, hey, if she’s got $200 to buy a gun, probably she’s got a lot more money, right? And so Rashan arranges a meeting, telling Gonzales some kind of story about having more bullets for the gun. Rashan picks up Quashawn, and takes him to meet with Gonzales, so that Quashawn can rob her — but oops! She uses the gun that Rashan sold her to shoot his accomplice Quashawn. It’s just so . . . unfortunate.

Lemony Snicket could not be reached for comment.

Category: Crime, Florida

Rule 5 Sunday: Cowgirl Style

Posted on | September 18, 2023 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This week’s appetizer courtesy of @Rule5Tweets.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

EBL: Saturday Night Girls With Guns, Make Ukraine Great Again, Mayflower Song, A Million Miles Away, Trying To Seduce Cops, Thank You King Jan Sobieski, Virginia Democrat Performs Online Sex, Sabotage, Daryl Dixon, and Mercy

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Franceska Fournier, Fish Pic Friday – Kristen Ottea, Thursday Tanlines, Gone Fishin’, The Wednesday Wetness, Tattoo Tuesday, The Monday Morning Stimulus and Palm Sunday

FLAPPR: T.I.T.S. For 9/15

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts

Category: Rule 5

FMJRA 2.0: Nowhere – now here

Posted on | September 17, 2023 | No Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

It was a good week for the Senators. We split a two-game series with the Royals on Tuesday, and then swept Pete’s Brewers on Friday.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Fly the Curly W flag!

The Destructive Force of ‘Equality’
The Political Hat
Flappr
A View From The Beach
EBL

Asking The Important Questions
EBL
357 Magnum

FMJRA 2.0: Night Owls
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Rule 5 Sunday: Swimwear, very nice.
Animal Magnetism
Flappr
A View From The Beach
EBL

Disappointed, But Not Discouraged
EBL

In The Mailbox: 09.11.23
EBL
357 Magnum

No Hope in New York
The Pirate’s Cove
EBL
357 Magnum

Escaped Murderer Now Armed
Flappr
EBL

In The Mailbox: 09.13.23 (Afternoon Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL

You Stay Classy, Virginia Democrats!
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.13.23 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.15.23 (Afternoon Abbreviated Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum

Unwanted and Unloved: Younger Americans Are Facing a Lonely Future
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 09.15.23 (Evening Edition)
EBL
357 Magnum

Top linkers for the week ending September 15

EBL (14)
357 Magnum (10)
A View From The Beach (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

Is There Any Hope for the Patriots?

Posted on | September 17, 2023 | No Comments

New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson

Football is a team sport, but I became a New England Patriots fan in 2021 because of one player. When the Patriots drafted Alabama quarterback Mac Jones, they also acquired me as a fan: Roll Tide.

Jones had led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and the National Championship after spending three years on the bench behind Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, stepping in after Tua suffered a season-ending injury late in 2019. That Jones would go in the first round of the 2021 draft, and would be picked by New England — a potential successor to the great Tom Brady — caught my interest. I hadn’t paid much attention to the NFL in many years, but how could I resist the drama of an Alabama player trying to fill the enormous Hall of Fame shoes of Brady? When Mac beat out Cam Newton for the starting QB job in preseason, I was psyched. Mac led the Patriots to the playoffs as a rookie, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, and seemed destined for future greatness.

The 2022 season . . . Well, it was a nightmare that every Patriots fan would like to forget. Now we’re moving forward after the season-opening defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, and New England will be playing host to the Miami Dolphins in the prime time feature game. Almost all the experts are predicting a Miami victory, after Tua put up 466 yards last week in a 36-34 victory over the Chargers. About the only commentator who thinks the Patriots can win this game is Greg Bedard, who believes (a) Bill Belichick’s defense can stop Tagovailoa and the Miami offense, and (b) New England will be able to run the ball effectively.

Felt like it was trending in a positive direction when the #Patriots didn’t elevate any offensive linemen from the practice squad.

Miami gave up 233 rushing yards and three TDs last week. If it’s Strange-Andrews-Onwneu in the IOL, could be a big day for Rhamondre and Zeke. https://t.co/uvweLZtJgx

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) September 17, 2023

The offensive line is the big question mark for the Patriots. The final game day injury report isn’t available yet, but two New England linemen — veteran left tackle Trent Brown and guard/tackle Sidy Sow — were reported to be in concussion protocols earlier this week. Starting right guard Michael Onwenu has been working his way back from an injury, second-year left guard Cole Strange missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, and then it was reported that veteran center David Andrews was “limited” in practice with some sort of hamstring injury. As Evan Lazar says, if it turns out that Onwenu, Strange and Andrews are all good to go tonight, maybe there’s hope that the New England tag team of running backs, Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott, will have a big game, “pounding the rock” downfield, so that Mac doesn’t have to win the game solely by his passing prowess. And because a victory for the Patriots would be an upset, against an AFC East division rival, this could change the entire conversation around the team’s prospects in the 2023 season.

Most of my readers don’t care about the NFL, but following the Patriots is therapeutic for me, a needed distraction from the general misery of politics in the Biden era. It’s about my mental health, really.

Meanwhile, as you are reading this, I’m actually on the road, driving my youngest daughter to the airport, as she will be departing today to spend the next year in a distant foreign country. Hopefully, I’ll be back in time for kickoff tonight, and in the meantime, I urge readers to remember the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!

Category: Football

A New ‘Broken Windows’ Discovery? Violence Linked to COVID Relief Fraud

Posted on | September 16, 2023 | No Comments

A very interesting article from WBAL-TV:

Maryland’s U.S. attorney found a big connection between violent crime and COVID-19 pandemic fraud.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron told the 11 News I-Team that his office found that 60% of violent criminals are also committing some type of COVID-19 fraud, and because of that, his office investigates every single violent crime target to see whether they’ve committed pandemic fraud.
Barron told the I-Team that the 20% reduction in homicides and the 10% reduction in nonfatal shootings in Baltimore City can both be explained by his office prosecuting COVID-19 fraud. Barron said that if his office can’t lock up violent offenders for those crimes, there’s a good chance his office can prosecute them for pandemic fraud.
Barron said the bottom line is to get violent criminals off the streets by any legal means necessary.
“They should know it’s a top priority for our office, and a big enough priority that we’ve also leveraged it as part of our violent crime strategy here in Baltimore City,” Barron told the I-Team. “And, you know what? Those who are also doing that and committing violent offenses in our communities, they should be held accountable doubly.”
When asked abouty the I-Team’s ongoing reporting about the now 280 Maryland residents who have contacted 11 News to report their Medicare cards have been charged for COVID-19 tests they never ordered, Barron said he couldn’t discuss any potential investigations.
However, he was able to be more candid about the work his office does investigating vehicle thefts, telling the I-Team that his office has found two big hot spots for car thefts in Maryland are in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County.
“Any case that meets the federal statute, we will prosecute. But even outside of that, we’ve been involved in helping to put together a joint local, state, federal task forces. So, there’s one here in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and there’s also a task force working in Prince George’s County and the D.C. border,” Barron said.
“Our violent crime investigations, we found that upwards of 60% of those have at least a preliminary indication of also being involved in some form of pandemic fraud,” Barron said.
By prosecuting those violent criminals for pandemic fraud, Barron said it’s “getting violent criminals off our streets by any legal means necessary,” and he said those efforts have contributed to a 20% drop in Baltimore homicides and a 10% drop in nonfatal shootings compared to 2022.
“It’s become an automatic part of our violent crime strategy,” Barron said.

This illustrates something about the “broken windows” theory of crime prevention pioneered by George Kelling and James Q. Wilson: Criminals are not specialists. That is to say, the drug dealer is often also the rapist, and the car thief is also often the armed robber. Habitual criminals have a general disposition toward lawlessness and antisocial behavior. This insight was proven conclusively in New York City when Bill Bratton launched a crackdown on subway “fare beaters,” miscreants who would avoid paying fares by jumping over turnstiles at subway stations. Once the transit cops started arresting the people engaged in this misdemeanor crime, they were shocked to discover that dozens of the turnstile jumpers were carrying illegal weapons or had outstanding felony warrants for serious crimes including aggravated assault. Simply by enforcing laws against “minor” crimes, you end up arresting lots of dangerous felons, and why? Because people who don’t obey laws against robbery and murder also don’t obey laws against less serious offenses.

Sometimes when a criminal gets shot by cops, and the media does one of those “family demands answers” stories, the situation will be framed as a black man getting killed by police because of a “routine traffic stop.” And then the police bodycam video is released, and we discover not only that the suspect tried to run over a cop, but also that they had the proverbial criminal record “as long as your arm,” they were a felon in possession of a firearm, with outstanding warrants, etc. In other words, the “routine traffic stop” — pulled over for expired tags or failure to signal a turn, whatever — was simply the occasion by which the criminal came in contact with police. The media, amplifying the “family demands answers” message, are obscuring the basic truth involved, i.e., criminals don’t obey traffic laws. This is directly related to what the Maryland U.S. Attorney has discovered about the perpetrators of COVID relief fraud. These swindlers are also implicated in many of the violent crimes that have plagued Baltimore, so when you put them in prison on fraud charges, there are fewer shootings in the city. The determination to “get violent criminals off the streets by any legal means necessary” reflects what I’ve been saying for years: Crime is a people problem. Identify the criminals and lock them up, and you solve the problem. It doesn’t matter what charges send them to prison. What matters is getting them off the streets.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!

Category: Crime, Maryland

CNN’s Fake ‘Fact Check’

Posted on | September 16, 2023 | No Comments

My friend Matt Vespa at Townhall highlights how CNN, in its role as Democratic Party propaganda machine, produced a disgustingly deceptive “fact check” of Joe Biden’s foreign influence-peddling scandal.

As I’ve said before of the evidence in the case, it’s a smoking gun next to a bloody corpse. If I could get in the face of any of these CNN propagandists, I’d destroy them with a single question: Why did these “shell companies” exist? The only answer an honest person can give is, “To conceal the bribery money.” If the millions of dollars received from foreigners by Hunter Biden and his associates had any legitimate purpose — if it were something other than bribery — they would have no need to hide it. And what was it that Hunter Biden and his associates were selling? What service did they have to offer, except the influence of the then-Vice President? Isn’t the nature of this arrangement self-evident in the fact that Ukraine prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Hunter’s client Burisma for corruption, was fired in 2016 on the demand of Joe Biden? Joe Biden publicly bragged about this.

REMEMBER THIS?

When Joe Biden OPENLY Bragged About Getting A Ukrainian Prosecutor Fired

BIDEN: “I said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re NOT getting the money.’ Well, son of a b*tch. He got fired.” pic.twitter.com/rT2CBOPEMB

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 1, 2023

Is everyone at CNN so stupid that they are incapable of adding 2+2 and finding the sum of 4? Or do they think their audience is that stupid?

But the last-place cable news network — which routinely gets beaten by in the ratings by Paw Patrol cartoons on Nickelodeon — is just one of many media operations engaged in trying to help the Biden administration shut down a congressional impeachment inquiry. Do a Google search for “without evidence + impeachment” and you’ll see how obediently they’re following White House orders:

The Biden White House sent a letter to its media allies Wednesday, directing them to intensify their “scrutiny” of House Republicans after Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced an impeachment inquiry into the Biden family’s influence-peddling operation.
“It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies. Impeachment is grave, rare, and historic. The Constitution requires ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office, wrote in the letter to top U.S. news executives, according to CNN. “After nearly 9 months of investigating, House Republicans haven’t been able to turn up any evidence of the President doing anything wrong,” Sams added inaccurately.
In reality, Republican investigators have produced a mountain of evidence in the form of bank records, suspicious activity reports, wire transfers, text messages, whatsApp messages, emails, voicemails, photos, along with the testimonies of whistleblowers, and Hunter Biden’s former business partners, not to mention Joe Biden’s admission on tape that he got the Ukrainian prosecutor general fired by withholding $1 billion in US loan guarantees in exchange for his ouster.
Democrats, on the other hand, launched an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump in 2019 based on the complaint of one then-anonymous Democrat operative (who was aware of Biden’s corruption) who blew the whistle after Trump asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to look into the Biden family’s shady business dealings in a phone call.

The media’s Trump Derangement Syndrome pandemic was not cured when Biden became president. Instead, we’re living through something akin to the Stalin era, where the purged Trotsky became a propaganda bogeyman used to frighten the public and justify repression.

The Jan. 6 protesters are sentenced to federal prison, Biden’s opponents are censored on social media platforms, and dishonest spin about the Biden bribery scandal is published as “fact checks,” all because liberals live in dread of what is to them the worst possible nightmare, the return of President Trump. How can they cope with the cognitive dissonance caused by having to pretend to be independent truth-tellers, when they know damned well that they’re telling lies on behalf of a corrupt old fraud like Joe Biden? No intelligent person believes a word they say.

And as for Joe Biden, he is GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!