The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Merry Christmas, Florida Man!

Posted on | December 18, 2021 | Comments Off on Merry Christmas, Florida Man!

Say hello to Florida resident Steven Stillwell. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the 42-year-old Stillwell “has an extensive criminal arrest history of 14 felonies, 5 misdemeanors, and 11 re-arrest charges . . . including: multiple burglaries and larcenies, DUI, multiple violations of probation, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a weapon/ammunition by a convicted felon, dealing in stolen property, and fraud.” Stillwell’s lengthy criminal history nearly ended this week, thanks to an armed homeowner:

Detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to the shooting of a man who they said broke into a Lakeland home Tuesday afternoon.
The homeowner told deputies that the man, later identified as 42-year-old Steven Stillwell, forced his way into the residence by throwing a flower pot through a glass door at around 12:50 p.m., according to a news release.
Deputies said Stillwell was shot three times by the homeowner. Stillwell was later taken to a hospital where he was last reported in critical, stable condition, according to the release.
Detectives said they found a shotgun belonging to Stillwell in the backyard of the home, as well as video evidence showing Stillwell approaching the home through the backyard.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the evidence in the case indicated that Stillwell illegally entered the home, and that the homeowner did the right thing by shooting him.
“The castle doctrine is very clear in Florida law. A person’s home is his refuge,” Judd said in a statement. “The homeowner did exactly what he had a right to do. I commend him for protecting himself and defending his home.”

We presume that, if Stillwell survives his wounds, he will spend a long time in Florida’s prison system. Who says there’s no good news anymore? Merry Christmas!




 

Category: Crime, Florida

‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Caught, Police Say

Posted on | December 18, 2021 | Comments Off on ‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Caught, Police Say

He did “unspeakable things with his victims”:

Law enforcement in Fairfax, Virginia on Friday announced they have a suspected serial killer in custody, two days after officials discovered human remains in a container left in a wooded area.
The suspect was identified as Anthony Robinson, 35.
Authorities also named Cheyenne Brown, a 29-year-old Washington, D.C., woman who has been missing since September, as one of at least four of his victims.
“He’s killed four already, and we suspect that he has more victims. He’s a predator, as all serial killers are,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a news conference Friday, adding that the so-called “Shopping Cart Killer” does “unspeakable things with his victims.”
Fairfax homicide detectives on Wednesday discovered the shopping cart in a wooded area off of Route 1 near the Moon Inn. A container beside the shopping cart had two sets of human remains that were so “decomposed” that “it’s going to take a little time” for authorities to complete an autopsy, according to Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis.
Based on a preliminary analysis, officials were able to identify Brown. A second set of remains discovered in the container has yet to be identified. Authorities will conduct further testing, including a DNA analysis.
Brown’s family told WRC-TV, a local NBC affiliate, that she had a 7-year-old son and was pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
Robinson is also suspected of killing two women, ages 54 and 34, whose remains were discovered in Harrisonburg in November. Officials also discovered the other two victims’ remains in shopping carts, Davis said.
The alleged killer’s M.O. included meeting his victims online, luring them to motels, killing them and transporting their remains in shopping carts, according to Davis. . . .
Robinson allegedly met his victims, including Brown, on a dating website.
The two were in contact with each other on the night of Sept. 30 at a metro stop in D.C. before she went missing, according to O’Connell. Robinson may have contacts between New York and Harrisonburg, Virginia, if not elsewhere beyond those places.
The suspect is currently being held at Rockingham County Jail in Virginia.

How many times have I warned y’all about online dating? Swipe right, and next thing you know, a serial killer’s doing “unspeakable things” to you, then dumping your corpse in some remote location where your badly decomposed remains are found months later. All because you didn’t listen to me when I told you: Online dating is for losers.

And serial killers. But mainly just losers.




 

Category: Crime, Virginia

In The Mailbox: 12.17.21

Posted on | December 18, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.17.21

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Attila the Hun as Santa? Riding a sheep? Best not to think too hard about it.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: You Are NOT Protected By Your ZIP Code
EBL: Alan Rickman’s Performance In One Of The Greatest Christmas Movies Ever Made
Twitchy: James O’Keefe Drops Rachel Maddow On Her Head With TikTok Video, also, Ted Cruz Tells Eric Swalwell “Hush, Child”
Louder With Crowder: “He Shot Him A Lot”, also, Dude Drops Great Anti-Mandate Quote After Being Booted From Flight For Wearing Thong As Mask
Vox Popoli: Exemption Italian Style, No Racism In RPGs, and Off Limits
According To Hoyt: Karen & Brandon Got Married, also, Sailing Past The Script
Monster Hunter Nation: WriterDojo S1E17 – Grand Theft Story, also, Plushy Wendell Update
Stoic Observations: Disinformation &  Digital Democratic Practice
John C. Wright: Wright On Asimov On Orwell

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: Realism & Restraint Put America First
American Greatness: The Kavanaugh War & The End Of Honor Culture, also, Justice Sotomayor Is The 21st Century’s Roger Taney
American Power: Afghan Women Lose Hope
American Thinker: What You Must Believe As An American In 2021
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Populism Friday
Babalu Blog: Cuba’s Shameful Fidel Castro Center, North Korea Sets An Example For Cuba, also, Happy 83rd Birthday To Leo “Chico” Cardenas
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For December 17
Behind The Black: SpaceX Accused Of Sexual Harassment By Same Wokies Who Accused Blue Origin, Ingenuity Completes 18th Flight, and Perseverance Scientists – First Volcanics Then Ice In Jezero Crater
Cafe Hayek: Policy Should Not Be Based On “Extraordinary Extrapolations” By “Scientists” With A Terrible Track Record, also, On Minimum Wage Legislation
Da Tech Guy: My Suggested Anti-Racism Plan For Doctors To Get The Administration’s Extra Medicare Money
Don Surber: They Stole The Senate And Now They Say It Sucks, Biden Won’t Sell Texas The Wall He Isn’t Building, and Inflation Is Good For You, Peasant
First Street Journal: Another (Alleged) Killer Arrested In Lexington But The Herald-Leader Doesn’t Think You Need To Know What He Looks Like
Gates Of Vienna: Let’s Go Easy On The Taliban, Send The Vax Refuseniks To The GULAG!, and A Setback For The Imposition Of 2G In Lower Saxony
The Geller Report: Elon Musk Crushes Fauxcahontas – “I Will Pay More Taxes This Year Than Any American In History”, also, Biden Threatens A Winter Of Illness & Death To The Unjabbed
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, “New” Technologies, and The Shadow Knows
Hollywood In Toto: Why Netflix’s Defense Of Dave Chappelle Is A Game-Changer
The Lid: Did Shakespeare Anticipate The Biden Presidency?
Legal Insurrection: Fauxcahontas Pivots Back To Packing SCOTUS, Conservative Student Newspaper Being Relaunched At Harvard, and Biden’s Large Employer Jab Mandate Reinstated By 6th Circuit
Nebraska Energy Observer: Scattershot Friday?
Outkick: LOL, NYT Wants Pro Sports Leagues To Shut Down, Bama Football Back In Familiar Role As Favorite, and Miss America Gets Woke, Goes Broke
Power Line: The Left Vs. The Constitution, Thoughts From The Ammo Line, and The Post Is Looking For A Hit Man
Shark Tank: Sabatini Blames Sprowls & Simpson For Blocking E-Verify
Shot In The Dark: Imperialism – Back To The Future, A Thought Experiment, and Not As “Woke” As They Think
The Political Hat: Twelve Posts Of Christmas 2021 – Day Five
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, also, A Little Leitmotif
Transterrestrial Musings: How Starship Changes Everything
Victory Girls: FDA Lifts Abortion Pill Restrictions – Can Now Be Prescribed Via Telehealth
Volokh Conspiracy: Sixth Circuit Dissolves Fifth Circuit’s Stay In OSHA Mandate Case
Weasel Zippers: Majority Of Americans Blame Biden For Inflation, House Dems Pass Bill Approving State Dept. Islamophobia Office, and 44 Days Since Last Press Conference – Biden Takes No Questions
The Federalist: Democrats Try To hide Worsening Congestion At California Ports, Pulitzer Center Helps 1619 Project Teachers Subvert Laws Banning Racism, and A Powerful Campaign Against Woke Capitalism Is Unfolding Quietly In State Treasurer Races
Mark Steyn: A Shropshire Mad, also, Under Cover Of Sir Roger

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

Kick the Damned Field Goal! (Or, How ‘Analytics’ Is Ruining Football)

Posted on | December 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Kick the Damned Field Goal! (Or, How ‘Analytics’ Is Ruining Football)

Trivia question: Who leads the NFL in scoring?

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has more touchdowns (16 rushing, 2 receiving) than any other player in the league, for a total of 108 points, but he is not the NFL’s leading scorer. That distinction belongs to New England Patriots kicker Nick Folk, who has kicked 33 field goals and 29 extra points for a total of 128 points so far this season.

The reason I bring this up is because the Los Angeles Chargers passed up three field-goal opportunities Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, opting instead to go for it on fourth down deep inside the Chiefs’ territory, and as a result lost 34-28 in overtime.

Blame “analytics,” which is what they call it nowadays when geeks with calculators apply statistical formulae to football. Supposedly, “analytics” shows that the odds of converting on fourth-and-2 or whatever favor going for it, regardless of the overall game situation, and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen teams lose winnable games this season by following “analytics.” It’s become a plague on the sport, and I think my brother and I — who were watching the Chargers-Chiefs game because the outcome could affect the Patriots’ postseason chances — were not alone in yelling at the TV: “Kick the damned field goal!”

This brings me back to the subject of Nick Folk, who leads the league in scoring points, and is a major reason why the Patriots are 9-and-4 going into Saturday’s game against the Colts. Under Coach Bill Belichick, New England plays what they call “complementary football,” with all three phases of the game — offense, defense and special teams — working together to maximize the team’s chances of victory. This approach explains why the Patriots are near the top of the AFC in wins, despite the fact that their overall offense ranks only 10th in the conference in total yardage. New England win games by playing smart football in every phase of the game. Consider this, for example: Although their defense ranks 9th in the AFC in rushing yards allowed per game (114.5), New England is first in the entire NFL in terms of fewest points allowed by their defense (15.4). How can that be? It’s because Belichick’s approach to defense is “bend don’t break” (a phrase I first saw in a book by Bud Wilkinson back in the day). In other words, Belichick doesn’t panic when the other teams makes a couple of first downs, moving the ball up the field, but instead has his defense focus on not giving up the big plays, counting on the chance that the other team will eventually make a mistake. This is just old-fashioned common-sense football.

As demoralizing as it can be to a defense when the other team is driving the ball up field, good coaches teach the “bend-don’t break” attitude. Don’t worry if the other team is having success moving the ball, just focus on not giving up the big play, and when if they get down near your goal line, that’s OK, because the shorter field favors the defense (less territory to cover) and besides, mistakes happen. Fumbles, interceptions, sacks, penalties — all kinds of things can go wrong for a team on offense, and if the defense will just be patient, avoid mistakes of their own, and focus on each play as it happens, the “bend-don’t-break” defensive philosophy tends to win football games. So, yes, the New England Patriots give up a lot of yards, even while they allow fewer points per game than any other defense in the NFL: Points matter most.

And did I mention that the Patriots’ kicker leads the league in points?

By God, when the Patriots get to fourth down and they’re within field-goal range, you’ll never see Bill Belichick do that “analytics” nonsense. No, they kick the field goal, because that’s smart football.

Let me give you a couple of examples: On Oct. 10, the Patriots took a 1-3 record into a road game against the Houston Texans, one of the league’s doormats. If New England was to have any hope of a respectable season, this was a must-win game, but early in the third quarter, the Texans intercepted a pass, and two plays later Chris Conley threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to put Houston ahead 22-9. After a couple of three-and-out series by each team, the Texans got to fourth-and-2 at their own 36, and then screwed up a punt, which bounced off a player’s head and went out of bounds, giving the Patriots a first down at the Houston 36. Three plays netted only three yards, however, and New England settled for a field goal, cutting the margin to 22-12. On the next series, the Texans got a first down, but then got a holding call and had to punt again, and after a 13-yard return by Gunner Olszewski, New England started from their own 39. They drove all the way to the Houston 14 before stalling, and Folk came on to kick another field goal, to make it 22-15. Early in the fourth quarter, after Houston missed a field goal attempt, New England drove for a touchdown to tie the game 22-22 with 9:31 left to play. The Texans then went three-and-out, and the Patriots took over at their own 13 with 7:15 remaining. Nee England then mounted a 15-play, 84-yard drive that chewed up seven minutes on the clock until, faced with fourth-and-goal at the Houston 3-yard line with 15 seconds left, Nick Folk came on to kick the game-winning field goal.

New England 25, Houston 22 — and Folks’ four field goals made the difference. The second example: Three weeks after beating the Texans, New England had a 3-4 record as they traveled to L.A. to play the Chargers. A win would bring the Patriots to .500, but the Chargers came into the game with a 4-2 record, and New England was the underdog. While I won’t recap the game in detail, the Chargers took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, but Nick Folk kicked four field goals and the Patriots eventually won, 27-24. In those two crucial games, Nick Folk accounted for a combined 26 points, so don’t tell me that “settling” for a field goal is a bad choice: Kick the damned field goal.

You might think L.A. Chargers coach Brandon Staley would have learned something from getting beat that way by New England, but there he was with first-and-goal at the Kansas City 5 early in the game, and three incomplete passes later, it’s fourth down. Kick the field goal? No, he went for it, another incomplete pass, and the Chiefs took over. Kansas City went 95 yards in 11 plays, chewing up 5:53 on the clock before going ahead 7-0. The Chargers battled back, and were leading 14-10 when they recovered a Chiefs’ fumble with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. L.A. drove to the Kansas City 1-yard-line where, on fourth-and-goal, Staley passed up the chance to kick a field goal that would have put the Chargers ahead by 7. Instead, another pass went incomplete.

Kansas City took the second-half kickoff and drove down to the L.A. 14 before settling for a field goal that cut the Chargers’ lead to a single point, 14-13. On their next possession, the Chargers made it down to the Kansas City 28 where, on fourth-and-2, Staley again decided to go for it and failed. So that’s 9 points Staley rejected in a game where L.A. didn’t kick a single field goal and only punted once — it’s touchdowns or nothing, in Staley’s playbook, and that’s why they lost the game. Because “analytics.”

Believe it or not, Staley defended his decisions:

Chargers coach Brandon Staley isn’t changing his ways: He says he will continue to go for it on fourth down, even after three out of Los Angeles’ five attempts Thursday night failed in a 34-28 overtime defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I felt really comfortable with all those decisions,” Staley said after the loss, which dropped the Chargers two games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West standings with three to play. “That’s the way we’re going to play around here. That’s the way we’re going to play. When we have a quarterback like ours, and we have an offense like ours, that’s the way we’re going to play because that’s how you need to play against Kansas City, for sure. That’s how we’re going to become the team that we’re ultimately capable of being, by playing that way.”
The Chargers entered the game 13 for 21 on fourth downs this season, giving them the fourth-most conversions in the league. Their conversion percentage (61.9) was tied for eighth best in the NFL.
Two of Los Angeles’ failed attempts to convert came inside the Kansas City 5, and another was on the edge of field goal range. The Chargers became the first team to fail twice on fourth-and-goal in a first half since the 1984 Chargers did the same — also against the Chiefs — 37 years ago to the day (Dec. 16, 1984).

You lost a game you could have won, and yet you’re still doubling down? Get back to me in a few weeks, when you’re sitting at home watching the playoffs on TV, loser. After Thursday’s defeat, the Chargers are 15-of-26 (57.7%) on fourth-down conversion attempts, ranked 8th in the AFC in that category — where New England ranks 4th in the AFC. But you see, the Patriots have only gone for it 8 times on fourth down, converting five (62.5%). No team in the AFC has tried fewer fourth-down conversions than New England. And unlike Brandon Staley, Bill Belichick has his team poised to win their division and make the playoffs.

Oh, I almost forgot: Guess who leads the NFL in field goals attempted (36) and field goals made (33)? That would be the New England Patriots.

Of course, there’s no telling how the Patriots will do in their final four regular-season games — Saturday night’s game at Indianapolis will probably be a tough one, because the Colts (7-6) have home-field advantage and are fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive. But I guarantee you this: New England won’t lose because of “analytics.”

Bill Belichick is not stupid.




 

Category: Football

Killer Lesbians: British Couple Sentenced to Prison in Death of Toddler Daughter

Posted on | December 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Killer Lesbians: British Couple Sentenced to Prison in Death of Toddler Daughter

Savannah Brockhill (left) and Frankie Smith (right).

In October, we told you about New York City cop Yvonne Wu, accused of shooting to death her ex-girlfriend and wounding the ex’s new girlfriend. Then in November, we told you about Pennsylvania couple Marie Snyder and Echo Butler, accused of murdering Snyder’s two young daughters. The Killer Lesbian phenomenon continues this month with news from Yorkshire, England:

The woman who murdered Star Hobson after inflicting “utterly catastrophic” injuries has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years as a judge said the toddler was caught in the crossfire of a toxic relationship.
Star suffered weeks of “neglect, cruelty and injury” from Savannah Brockhill, 28, in Keighley, West Yorkshire. The toddler died aged 16 months of cardiac arrest after being punched or kicked by Brockhill in September 2020 using “massive force” on a par associated with “a road traffic accident”, according to the judge. A postmortem revealed previous brain injuries, fractured bones and internal organ injury.
Brockhill’s partner, Frankie Smith, Star’s mother, was jailed for eight years after she was found guilty of causing or allowing the toddler’s death. The 20-year-old was cleared of murder and manslaughter charges.
“The physical injuries that Star suffered during her life are only part – however, a very significant part – of the tragic story of her life. She was also treated with, at best, callous indifference, by you both, and on many occasions with frank cruelty,” said Mrs Justice Lambert as she passed sentence at Bradford crown court on Wednesday.
A local review of Star’s death is due to be published in January, which will feed into a national one ordered by the government after Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder.
The first of at least five safeguarding referrals from concerned relatives and friends was made in January 2020 by Hollie Jones, Smith’s friend. The judge thanked Jones for “love and care” she showed Star, noting she was frequently “used for free babysitting” while Smith went out drinking. Jones told the BBC that when social workers rang to say they were visiting, Smith spent an hour cleaning Star and covering up bruises. Social workers visited on four occasions, and closed the case three times, while police visited once.
The judge found that Star was “caught up” in the crossfire of the 10-month relationship between her mother and Brockhill, which was characterised by “petty squabbles and jealous fights” which escalated into violent threats. Lambert said Brockhill, who she described as the “leading force in the relationship” with a violent temper, then took out her anger on Star, while Smith displayed cruelty and meted out “pointless punishments”.
During sentencing, Lambert found that Star’s murder was not pre-meditated, and that Brockhill had not intended to kill her, but would “lash out” when in a “jealous rage”.
Brockhill, an amateur boxer and security guard, denied all charges against her. Halfway through the seven-week trial, Smith pleaded guilty to eight instances of child cruelty against Star between April and September 2020. The court heard Smith was of extremely low intelligence, and “abnormally compliant” when told to do something by an authority figure. However, the judge said that she “did not accept” that these factors excused Smith’s conduct, describing her as a “neglectful and callous parent” who thought only of her own interests and would have realised her partner was abusing Star.
“You chose to be and to remain in that relationship for your own purposes and your own gratification”, adding that Smith could have turned to several family members for help, as she had in the past.

You understand that I’m not implying that all lesbians are murderers, nor even that lesbians are more likely than heterosexual women to commit murder. My point is that media bias is such that journalists will never use the words “lesbian” and “murder” in the same story, unless a lesbian is a victim of murder. The belief that journalists must always act the part of publicity agents for the “LGBTQ community,” results in a one-sided portrayal of gay life — everything’s wonderful and everybody’s happy under the rainbow flag — which is just unrealistic. So when I get a story like this (and thanks to the regular reader who emailed me the tip), it’s my duty to give it an appropriate headline, for the sake of balance.




 

Category: Uncategorized

In The Mailbox: 12.16.21

Posted on | December 17, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.16.21

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Silicon Valley delenda est.

Florence Nightingale is not totally on board with this Santa business, but it seems to be her fate.

OVER THE TRANSOM
EBL: Trying To Explain Socialism, also, Christmas Is Coming, CNN
Twitchy: Peter Doocy Asks Why Biden Is Still Saying You Can’t Spread COVID If You’ve Been Vaccinated
Louder With Crowder: Joe Rogan Defends Chris Pratt Against Liberal Trolls
Vox Popoli: Blue Cross Doubles Down, also, The Party Of Lincoln

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Formula 1 2021 – The Defeat Of Woke
American Conservative: Elon Musk Contra The Demographic Collapse
American Greatness: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Demands Firing Of Sadistic D.C. Jail Official, also, Kevin McCarthy Under Pressure To Boot Liz Cheney & Adam Kinzinger From The GOP
American Power: Big California Storm Unleashes Flooding & Mudslides, also, Why Democrats Self-Destruct On Crime
American Thinker: To Fix A Cratering Birthrate, Stop Killing Your Children
Animal Magnetism: Animal’s Daily Migration News
Babalu Blog: Child Baseball Prodigy Escapes Communist Cuba To Seek MLB Career, also, EU Parliament Condemns Cuba’s Human Rights Abuses, But Not By Much
Baldilocks: A Californian’s Day
BattleSwarm: Log4J & Internet Castles Made Of Sand
Behind The Black: Pushback Against The Blacklists, Red Chinese Rocket Fails During Launch, also, Cracking Glaciers On Mars
Cafe Hayek: Well, Computers ARE Known For Carrying Viruses
CDR Salamander: What Does Anti-Laser Flash Gear Look Like? also, Diversity Thursday
Da Tech Guy: The Ivermectin Of The Salvation Army, also, Happy 230th Birthday To The Bill Of Rights
Don Surber: WaPo Blames Manchin For Biden’s Disastrous Year, also, Slave Owners Rent A Senator
First Street Journal: We Bought A House! also, You Don’t Have To Be A Conspiracy Theorist…
Gates Of Vienna: Boosters Today, Boosters Tomorrow, Boosters Forever!, It’s Time To Quarantine The Vaxed, and Nationalism
The Geller Report: Democrat Ron Wyden Kills Ban On Slave-Made Red Chinese Products, also, Harris Mocked For “Legitimately Stupid” Demo Of Electric Car Recharging
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, Stars Near The Center Of Our Galaxy, and Another Preliminary Injunction 
Hollywood In Toto: Nightmare Alley Tops Del Toro’s Oscar-Winning Shape of Water, also, Here’s How Comedian Tim Slagle Stares Down Cancel Culture
The Lid: Biden Accidentally Reveals Democrats’ Scheme To Steal The Vote
Legal Insurrection: Oberlin Student Op-Ed Urges White People To Attend Fewer Concerts, Major California School Districts Adopt Senseless “Equity” Grading System, and Prosecutors Say Sailor Accused Of USS Bonhomme Richard Fire Was “Disgruntled”
Nebraska Energy Observer: Sounds Of Satan
Outkick: Jaguars Fire Urban Meyer, Penn Swim Parents Send Letter To NCAA Demanding Rules Change, and ESPN Refuses To Correct Or Comment On Bubba Wallace Noose Lie
Power Line: The Real War On Women Is from The Left, The Limits Of Corporate Wokeness, and Twitter Has Gone Nuts
Shark Tank: Florida Sends Team To Aid Kentucky Recovery
Shot In The Dark: When Making your Christmas Shopping Plans, also, Debased
The Political Hat: Twelve Posts Of Christmas, Day 4
This Ain’t Hell: Joe Biden Flying Illegals Back To The U.S., DOD “Workplace & Gender Relations” Survey Of Troops Has Misogyny Gauge, and First It Was Oklahoma…
Transterrestrial Musings: Elon Musk
Victory Girls: Midwest Storms & The Weaponization Of Weather
Volokh Conspiracy: On The Biology Of Sex, Sex Determination, & The Performance Gap
Weasel Zippers: Bidenflation Will Cost American Families $3500, Bad Orange Woman Confirms Biden Left Almost 500 Americans Behind In Afghanistan, and Clinton/Trump Rematch In 2024?
The Federalist: New York City Council Bans Natural Gas From New Buildings, IRS Filings Confirm Left-Wing Zuck Bucks Funneled Millions Into Effort To Elect Biden, and Christopher Bedford Starts Festivus Early With Airing Of Grievances
Mark Steyn: Riding The Authoritarian Wave

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

Never Text Your Ex

Posted on | December 16, 2021 | Comments Off on Never Text Your Ex

Say hello to Holly Williams and her boyfriend William Lanway and, while you’re at it, go ahead and say good-bye, because they’re both dead. The couple lived in Nashville, and died there after they attempted an extortion scheme that backfired in the worst possible way. You see, it all started when Holly’s ex-boyfriend, a successful Texas businessman named Erik Maund, decided to get in touch with her:

Mr. Maund, a 46-year-old married auto dealer from Austin, Texas, traveled to Nashville a few times a year to visit a relative, prosecutors said. As he prepared for his trip in early February 2020, Mr. Maund reached out to Ms. Williams, an old romantic acquaintance, asking her to meet up while he was in town, according to the indictment.
On Feb. 5, Mr. Maund allegedly texted Ms. Williams, 33, again, noting he was looking forward to being with her that night.
“Good day beautiful! … I’m in Nashville,” he said, according to court documents. “I’ll meet you in the bar like last time. Text me when you arrive.”
On March 1, Mr. Maund began receiving threatening text messages. Mr. Lanway, 36, was in a romantic relationship with Ms. Williams and wanted Mr. Maund to pay him not to expose the affair, prosecutors said.

NEVER TEXT YOUR EX!

Nothing good ever happens as a consequence. Time moves in one direction, and going backward — attempting to rekindle the old flame — is a formula for heartache. And also, perhaps, murder:

On Friday, Mr. Maund and the three men he allegedly paid $750,000 to kill the Nashville couple were arrested on kidnapping, murder and gun charges. . . .
Mr. Maund “communicated multiple times” with Gilad Peled, the owner of Austin-based firm Speartip Security. According to the indictment, the company advertised “responding to extortion demands” on its website. Mr. Peled, 47, said he was a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces and the Mossad.
On March 5, an unnamed accomplice gave Mr. Peled an “Intelligence Report” on Ms. Williams, the indictment said. That same day, Mr. Maund allegedly withdrew $15,000 from his Bank of America account. The money eventually made its way into Mr. Peled’s personal and business bank accounts, according to prosecutors.
Mr. Peled allegedly sent Adam Carey, 30, of Richlands, N.C., who served in the United States Marine Corps’ Special Operations group, to Nashville on March 7 to surveil Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway.
Mr. Carey sent a report two days later. It included Ms. Williams’ address and vehicle information and confirmed that Mr. Lanway had been staying in her apartment.
“[The report] advised that Adam Carey and others would use ‘everything at our disposal to include, intimidation … ’ to stop the attempted extortion,” the indictment says.
Mr. Carey and other unnamed accomplices tried to contact Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway on March 10, prosecutors said. They showed up at Ms. Williams’ apartment, but the attempt to speak with her was “unsuccessful,” according to court documents. That day they also allegedly tailed Mr. Lanway in a grocery store but did not approach him directly.
Mr. Carey received additional help the following day when Bryon Brockway, 46, arrived from Austin. According to the indictment, Mr. Brockway owns a security company and served in the United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, a Special Operations intelligence unit.
On March 12, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway allegedly confronted Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway in the parking lot of Ms. Williams’ apartment complex. Prosecutors said they shot Mr. Lanway multiple times, including twice in the head.
They then allegedly forced Ms. Williams into her 2005 Acura sedan and drove her to a construction site while Mr. Lanway’s body was in the car. Once they arrived, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway shot Ms. Williams “multiple times including a shot to the head near her right temple,” the indictment says.
The next day, Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway drove to Memphis, Tenn., where Mr. Brockway got on a flight to Austin, the lawsuit says. Mr. Carey then drove to Austin.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department found Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway’s bodies on April 10, 2020, police Chief John Drake said in a news release — nearly a month after Mr. Carey and Mr. Brockway allegedly killed them.
Since March 11, 2020, Mr. Maund paid “in excess of $750,000” to Mr. Peled, Mr. Brockway and Mr. Carey for “the kidnapping and murder” of Ms. Williams and Mr. Lanway, the indictment says.

Has anyone ever gotten away with a murder-for-hire plot?

OK, Hillary Clinton, maybe, but in other cases, the feds are actually going to try to catch the killers, rather than deliberately covering it up with some “suicide” nonsense, but I digress . . .

My point is that I’ve seen enough true-crime shows on TV to understand how difficult it is to get away with murder-for-hire. Once the cops figure out who had a motive to kill the deceased victims, the rest of it is just a matter of getting warrants to seize your phone, your computer, etc. But that’s assuming that you can actually find an authentic hit man to do the job. Most of the time, when someone tries to hire a hit man to murder their wife or husband or whatever, they end up talking to an undercover cop wearing a wire pretending to be a hit man.

Stupid is as stupid does, however, and a guy that’s dumb enough to text his ex is dumb enough to think he can get away with murder. On the other hand, the two extortionists are dead, so that’s a bit of a silver lining to this dark cloud of stupidity. Also, Hillary Clinton may have gotten away with murder, but at least she never became president.




 

Category: Crime

Speaker Pelosi Denounces ‘Outrageous Lawlessness’ of Her Own Constituents

Posted on | December 16, 2021 | Comments Off on Speaker Pelosi Denounces ‘Outrageous Lawlessness’ of Her Own Constituents

The advocate of “social justice” is shocked — shocked! — that Democratic voters are acting on her party’s anti-capitalist rhetoric:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted an “attitude of lawlessness” across the country Wednesday, decrying a recent surge in smash-and-grab crimes – particularly in her hometown of San Francisco – but refusing to admit it stems from police funding cuts and bail reform measures pushed by left-wing lawmakers.
“It’s absolutely outrageous,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said when asked about the crime spike. “Obviously, it cannot continue. But the fact [is] that there is an attitude of lawlessness in our country that springs from I don’t know where … and we cannot have that lawlessness become the norm.”
“It must be stopped, and it’s not just San Francisco,” Pelosi emphasized. “It’s in our entire country.”
The brazen group robberies have made national headlines for weeks. Last month, for example, around 80 people raided a San Francisco-area Nordstrom department store and drove off in two dozen cars with up to $200,000 in goods, police said.
Similar thefts have been reported across California, as well as in Chicago. On Tuesday, a visibly frustrated San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced plans to crack down on retail thefts, home break-ins and other criminal behavior that has flourished during the tenure of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. . . .

Chesa Boudin’s parents are terrorist murderers. His mother Kathy Boudin (who had been valedictorian at elite Bryn Mawr College) became a fugitive after she survived the 1970 explosion that destroyed a Weather Underground bomb factory in a Greenwich Village townhouse. By 1981, she had joined fellow radical David Gilbert, Chesa Boudin’s father, in the May 19th Communist Organization, which helped perpetrate the infamous Nyack, N.Y., Brink’s armored car robbery in which a guard and two police officers were murdered. These killers are treated as heroes by the radical Left, of which Chesa Boudin is an unapologetic member. The people who elected Chesa Boudin as district attorney — that is to say, Democrats — knew damned well what they were thereby endorsing.

Or should have known, anyway. Attributing Boudin’s election to voter ignorance is only slightly more plausible than attributing it to deliberate malice. Really, what excuse can there be? “Oops, we accidentally elected a Marxist”? As a parent, one hears all kinds of flimsy alibis from children — who ate all the Oreos? — but people old enough to vote ought to be held to a higher standard of accountability. But even the Speaker of the House is playing the same childish game of pretending to be shocked by the entirely predictable consequences of her own party’s policies.

Democrats are playing the same make-believe games at the White House:

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on [Dec. 2] said the COVID-19 pandemic is “a root cause” of recent organized looting incidents across the country.
Psaki gave the surprising remark when asked at her daily briefing about large groups that have for weeks been descending upon San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago-area shops.
“Big cities are dealing with smash-and-grab robberies, a record number of police officers have been shot and killed this year. What is President Biden going to do about all this lawlessness?” asked Fox News reporter Peter Doocy.
Psaki at first pinned the blame on former President Donald Trump for not offering more funding to local police before turning the blame on the pandemic.
“Well, Peter, I would say that when the president proposed additional funding in his budget over the funding that had been proposed by the prior president to increase in support local police departments, make sure we keep cops on the beat,” she said.
“Does the president still think that crime is up because of the pandemic?” Doocy further asked.
“I think many people have conveyed that and also one of the … root causes of crime in communities is guns and gun violence. And we’ve seen that statistically around the country,” Psaki answered.
“So when a huge group of criminals organizes themselves and they want to go loot a store — a CVS, a Nordstrom, a Home Depot until the shelves are clean — do you think that’s because of the pandemic?” Doocy pressed.
“I think a root cause in a lot of communities is the pandemic, yes,” Psaki said.

Why is it that these “root causes” affect only certain “communities”? Why is it always Democratic constituencies perpetrating these crimes?

Don’t expect Nancy Pelosi to answer that, but she has plenty of time to launch a Select Committee to endlessly investigate January 6, because a bunch of people wandering around the Capitol taking selfies is a dangerous “insurrection.” It cannot be said that Democrats have no standards; they actually have two standards — one for them, and one for everybody else. Democrats want to put you in prison if you say they stole the election (friends of mine have been subpoenaed), but meanwhile their own voters are looting Nordstrom and Democrats pretend to be shocked.




 

Category: Crime, Nancy Pelosi
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