The Other McCain

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

Denver Gunman Kills 4, Wounds 3

Posted on | December 28, 2021 | Comments Off on Denver Gunman Kills 4, Wounds 3

Motive unknown:

A lone gunman shot four people to death and wounded three, including a police officer, on Monday in a Denver-area shooting spree that unfolded at several locations and ended with police killing the suspect, authorities said.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive for the rampage, which began around 5 p.m. when the gunman shot and killed two women and wounded a man near downtown Denver, Police Chief Paul Pazen said a news briefing.
The suspect then fled in a car and fatally shot a man in east Denver’s Cheesman Park neighborhood, before opening fire again in a west Denver community where no one was hit, Pazen said. According to Pazen, the suspect twice exchanged gunfire from his vehicle with Denver officers pursuing him, disabling a police cruiser.
From there, the gunman drove into the neighboring city of Lakewood, where he shot and killed a fourth person inside an unspecified business, according to Lakewood Police spokesman John Romero.
The gunman fled from Lakewood police when they attempted to pull him over and engaged in a running gun battle with officers before fleeing on foot and entering a hotel, where he shot and wounded a clerk, Romero said.
He then shot at police officers again, wounding one of them, before police shot him dead, Romero told reporters. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect, and said circumstances leading to the shooting remained under investigation.

The fact that police have not yet named the suspect could lead people to speculate about his identity and motive, which is irresponsible. But I’m going to take a wild guess that we’ll eventually be told the gunman “struggled with mental health issues.” For some reason, we only hear about such struggles when the result is tragic. There must be people who are successful in their mental health struggles, but only the failures ever make national news. Once upon a time in this country, we kept people locked up in lunatic asylums while they “struggled with mental health issues,” but now the policy is to let the kooks roam around until they die in a shootout with cops. Or so it seems because, as I say, this is the only circumstance in which such “struggles” are deemed newsworthy.

Of course, what counts as a “mass murder” in Denver is just a typical weekend in Chicago, in terms of total body count. Is everybody in Chicago having a mental health crisis? They must be crazy to elect Lori Lightfoot as their mayor, but other than that — and the constant gunfire — there are few other symptoms of their struggles with mental health.

Crazy People Are Dangerous.

UPDATE: Denver Shooting Rampage Update: Gunman Identified as Tattoo Artist Lyndon McLeod, Was Known to Cops.




 

Category: Colorado, Crime

Rule 5 Sunday: The Feast Of St. Stephen

Posted on | December 27, 2021 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: The Feast Of St. Stephen

— compiled by Wombat-socho

After Stacy’s amazing post on the NFL’s COVID policy last week I was tempted to punt this, but people sent stuff in and The Links Must Flow.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Waiting for Santa.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of The Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1575, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns. 

EBL: Station 11, 1883 Yellowstone Origin Story, Judy Garland, Winter 2021, Unredeemed Scrooge, Boots O’Neal, Your Ancient Ancestors, The Matrix Resurrections, Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters, Nobody, Being The Ricardos, Kelly Clarkson, The Feast Of Seven Fishes, Merry Christmas To Those Serving, and Let’s Go Brandon!

A View From The Beach: Merry Christmas!, Well, He Got My Attention, Fish Pic Friday, Election BS: Dems Want Jan. 6 to be National Holiday?, Tattoo Thursday, It’s Just Not Christmas, Wednesday Wetness, I Blame Brandon!, Baby It’s Cold Outside, Masks Now, Masks Forever!, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Palm Sunday, and OK!

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

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Category: Live at Five

FMJRA 2.0: Boxing Day Special

Posted on | December 27, 2021 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Boxing Day Special

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This week, we learned that hot nurses outdraw bikini models. Duly noted. As for my Senators, they had a good week; after losing two out of three to Minnesota, we swept the Orioles in three games. This leaves us half a game behind the Hated YankeesHighlanders, who are up next on the schedule. It’s a road trip, so I get to see how my crew does in Yankee Stadium.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Shishou wishes her students a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Rule Five Sunday: Nadezhda Zhukova
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Caught, Police Say
357 Magnum
EBL

Merry Christmas, Florida Man!
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: Thousand Dollar Car
A View From The Beach
EBL

Colts Beat Patriots 27-17; Taylor Rushes for 170 Yards; Playoff Race Tightens
EBL

Ironic Justice: Two Anti-Police Lawmakers Get Carjacked
First Street Journal
Dark Brightness
357 Magnum
EBL

‘No Stranger to Law Enforcement’
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.20.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Joe Manchin Wrecks ‘Build Back Better,’ Ruins Christmas for Democrats
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.21.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Joe Biden, Blamer-in-Chief
The Pirate’s Cove
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.22.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

In The Mailbox: 12.23.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Gosh, How Can I Get Readers to Pay Attention to the NFL’s COVID-19 Policy?
Instapundit
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 12.24.21
357 Magnum
EBL
A View From The Beach
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending on Christmas Eve:

  1.  EBL (15)
  2.  357 Magnum (11)
  3.  A View From The Beach (8)
  4.  Proof Positive (6)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

Damn Those Cardinals

Posted on | December 26, 2021 | Comments Off on Damn Those Cardinals

Kyler Murray wears jersey No. 1, but he’s been playing like No. 2 lately, IYKWIMAITYD. As recently as Dec. 5, the Arizona Cardinals had the best record in the NFL at 10-2, but they’ve now lost three consecutive games, including Saturday night’s 22-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Why should I care? Because as a Patriots fan, with New England and Indianapolis both in the AFC playoff hunt, I’m cheering against every potential rival, including the Colts, who beat the Patriots last week.

The Cleveland Browns cooperated with my agenda Saturday, losing to the Green Bay Packers, and all I needed was for Kyler Murray and the Cardinals to have a decent game to drop the Colts to 8-7. I mean, Arizona had home field advantage, so this should have been an easy win, right? But no, the Cardinals were a carnival of errors. They took the opening kickoff and started driving, getting a first down at the Indianapolis 40, but then on third-and-3, Murray threw an incomplete pass, so Arizona decides to kick a field goal — and missed! The Colts scored a touchdown to go ahead 7-0, but the Cardinals answered with their own TD — and then missed the extra point! So now Arizona is trailing 7-6, and on their next possession, with a little more than 10 minutes left in the first half, the Cardinals come up on a fourth-and-1 at the Indianapolis 29, and decide to go for it. But they get a false-start penalty, and on fourth-and-6, Murray’s pass is caught at the Indianapolis 17, which should be a first down, but the Colts challenge the play and, after review, it’s ruled that the receiver was out of bounds, so Indianapolis takes over. Later, with about five minutes left in the half, a punt from the Colts pins Arizona back at their own 8-yard line. On third-and-7 from the 11, Murray lines up in the shotgun, the snap is low, and Murray gets called for intentional downing from the end zone, an automatic safety that gives Indianapolis a 9-6 lead.

After an error-filled start like that, the Cardinals did not deserve to win, and they didn’t. It wasn’t so much that the Colts won, but that the Cards lost and, in losing, thereby put more pressure on Mac Jones and the Patriots in today’s crucial game against the Buffalo Bills. As if they needed more pressure, y’know. Damn those Cardinals . . .




 

Category: Football

Killadelphia Update

Posted on | December 26, 2021 | Comments Off on Killadelphia Update

When last we checked in on Philadephia’s crime wave, the city had already eclipsed its all-time annual murder record of 500 (“‘Killadelphia’ D.A. Turned Loose Teen Carjacker Who Murdered Marxist Student,” Dec. 2) and then this past week, local Democratic congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked in FDR Park. The bodies keep stacking up in “Killadelphia,” which is now nearing 550 homicides on the year:

One man is dead and at least six others are injured as gun violence continued to rage in Philadelphia overnight Thursday.
Investigators say a 40-year-old man was shot in the head on 1800 block of East Tioga Street in Kensington just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
Officers from the Philadelphia Police Department drove the unnamed victim to Temple University Hospital where he died.
No arrests were reported immediately following the deadly shooting and police did not provide a possible motive for the murder.
Around the same time, 19th district officers in West Philadelphia were called to a couple’s home after a man was struck in the back by a stray bullet.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters that the 40-year-old man and his girlfriend were watching television inside their home on North 62nd Street when a bullet struck the victim in the back.
He was taken by police to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he was placed in critical condition, police said.
Authorities were unable to make an arrest, but Small said over 10 spent shell casings were found on the street near the couple’s home.
As Thursday turned to Friday, police in Kensington were dispatched to two different shootings that happened about 15 minutes apart.
According to investigators, a 23-year-old man was shot five times on the 400 block of East Clearfield Street early Friday morning. Minutes later, police say a 30-year-old man was also shot multiple times on Kensington Avenue.
Both victims were taken to Temple University Hospital and placed in critical condition, according to police.
The Philadelphia Police Department investigated three more early morning shootings, including an armed robbery in North Philadelphia that left a woman shot twice in the leg and a shooting in Mayfair that critically injured a 64-year-old man.
No arrests were reported in any of the overnight shootings, according to police.
With just days left of 2021, the city has already suffered its bloodiest year to date with 547 homicides, according to the latest data from the Philadelphia Police Department.

Dana Pico is your go-to source on the Killadelphia beat:

According to the Chicago Tribune, as of Sunday, December 19th, there had been 783 murders in the Windy City thus far in 2021, 34 more than on the same day last year. As of the same day, 540 homicides had occurred in Philadelphia. The 19th being the 353rd day of the year, that works out to 2.2181 homicides per day in Chicago, and ‘only’ 1.5297 per day in the City of Brotherly Love.
But, according to the 2020 census, there were 2,746,388 people living in Chicago, and 1,603,797 in Philly. Using the homicide rates, that works out to a projected 558 killings in Philly and 810 in Chicago. Murder rates are calculated based on 100,000 population, meaning that Chicago is headed for a homicide rate of 29.4933 per 100,000, while Philadelphia is looking at 34.7924. Philadelphia is far deadlier than Chicago!

“Worse than Chicago” is something you never want to be. Why is Philadelphia so bad? Hint: Joe Biden got 74% of the vote in Cook County, Illinois, but got 81% of the vote in Philadelphia.




 

Category: Crime, Pennsylvania

Haunted by Marley’s Ghost?

Posted on | December 25, 2021 | Comments Off on Haunted by Marley’s Ghost?

You know, I’ve always been annoyed by people who publicly mourn their pets. It strikes me as . . . decadent would probably be the word, as I’m mindful of the ancient Roman critics who pointed out how the decadence of imperial Rome was marked by women preferring pets to children. So I’ve never been one of those who made a big deal over animals.

On the other hand, we had never before had a dog like Marley, who was a mix of boxer and pit bull. “The Beast,” I called him, and you can ask anyone who visited our house how apt that nickname was. He had a deep low bark, a hearty “woof” that was very intimidating to strangers, or even friends, as Marley tended to treat just about everyone as a stranger.

We got Marley when he was about a year old. He was our son Bob’s puppy, but then Bob joined the Army and so we got this gigantic young beast, remarkably muscular, with hindquarters capable of propelling him skyward in fantastic leaps. We had a fenced-in backyard at the time, and it was just a matter of time before Marley figured out that he could jump completely over it. Once he escaped during a snowstorm, and I had to go capture him, then slipped and fell on the ice, seriously bruising my ribs.

“Stupid beast!” How I cussed that dog over the years, especially when it fell my duty to take him for a walk. What is it about a dog that it has to poop in a certain spot, which can only be located after sniffing around forever? You might suppose that if it were an emergency — as a dog who wants to go for a walk will always try to convince you it is — the animal would immediately conduct its business as soon as you got out the door. But no, instead we had to go wandering around all over creation until Marley was good and ready to complete the transaction, so to speak.

“Stupid beast!” Oh, the nightmares when Marley would escape the house. Any ordinary dog, it wouldn’t be such an emergency, but didn’t I tell you what an absolute beast this animal was? The athletic physique, capable of leaping as high as your head, with that ferocious bark — Marley genuinely frightened our neighbors. He wasn’t a mean dog, but imagine 75 pounds of muscular half-breed pit bull hurtling at you at top speed. Whenever my wife would ask how Marley managed to get out, I’d say the dog must have developed thumbs, because he seldom missed an opportunity if a door was left even slightly ajar and — ZOOM! — off he’d go.

The worst was when he decided to chase the horses. At that time, we lived not far from a pasture where a neighbor kept a herd of about a dozen horses, with a barbed wire fence that was no obstacle to Marley. So after he’d escaped, I found myself down by the fence, holding a leash and yelling for the dog while he chased these horses around the pasture.

Simple question: Why?

What was the dog going to do with a horse if he caught one? But dogs don’t do logic. The whole delayed-gratification/long-term consequences thing is beyond a dog’s ability, and it was pure instinct at work, although I wonder at what Darwinian utility there can be in a dog’s impulse to chase a horse, because more than once Marley got kicked in the head during his horse-chasing exploit. It was pretty scary.

It was also embarrassing. A half-breed pit bull is not the kind of pet that is kept by polite Christian families who live in nice neighborhoods. It’s either a country dog or a ghetto dog, but definitely never a bourgeois dog. Marley was not the kind of dog you’d have if you had any pretension to suburban middle-class respectability. An attack dog, really — the sort of beast a drug dealer would keep around to protect his stash.

Say this for him, Marley was fiercely protective. He protected us from the mail lady, the UPS man, the power company meter-reader, and anyone else who ever pulled up in our driveway, or even just drove down the street. After a few years, Marley got a companion in Ginger, a castoff little yappy dog that Lou Ann got from one of her friends. So any time a car drove past our house, nervous little Ginger would alert and start her high-pitched yapping and Marley would immediately join in with his fearsome WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! Which is quite annoying if you’re trying to concentrate on writing. “Shut up, animals!” I’d grumble, thinking to myself: Woodward and Bernstein never had to deal with such noise.

Who knows what danger Marley saved us from? Maybe the UPS man was a serial killer, but WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! and he didn’t dare come near the front door. But we’ve lost our protector now.

Marley’s health declined over the past year, and finally it became a complete failure of his urological tract — a tumor or a kidney stone, the veterinarian guessed, when Lou Ann took Marley to the doggie version of an emergency room. The prognosis was not encouraging,and any possible treatment would have been prohibitively expensive, so it was decided to have him put down, and Lou Ann held Marley in his final moments, an emotionally traumatic experience. Our son Jim dug a deep grave in the backyard, and Marley was interred with his rawhide chew bone.

No, I didn’t cry, because I’m not like that, but I’m surprised at how much I miss the damned beast, now that he’s gone. Ginger is also lonely without her big dumb companion, and I suggested to the kids we should buy Lou Ann a puppy for Christmas, but they nixed the idea — Marley was irreplaceable. During last week’s episode of The Other Podcast, my co-host John Hoge made the inevitable Dickens joke, that this Christmas I’d be haunted by Marley’s ghost. And so it is, but I thought he was deserving of this brief remembrance, for what it’s worth.

R.I.P., Marley the Beast.




 

Category: Family

In The Mailbox: 12.24.21

Posted on | December 25, 2021 | Comments Off on In The Mailbox: 12.24.21

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Since tomorrow is Christmas, deadlines for the usual weekend posts are extended to noon on Boxing Day (Sunday). I hope all of your Christmases are merry and full of good cheer. Mt. 1:18-25.

Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Merry Christmas from the Neko Cafe…somewhere/somewhen…

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: Good Guys 3 Bad Guys 0
EBL: George Washington Wishes You A Merry Christmas
Twitchy: “F*** Off, You Public Sector Parasite,” also, “Nicely Done, President Klain!”
Vox Popoli: Why Russia Will Win, Neocons Might Get Their War, and No. A Thousand Times, No. 
According To Hoyt: The Lies Of The Twentieth Century, also, Lavish
Monster Hunter Nation: WriterDojo S1E18 – A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
Gab News: On The Miracle Of Christ’s Birth

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
Adam Piggott: Christmas In The Desert
American Conservative: The Wisconsin Purchase
American Greatness: Lump Of Coal Awards 2021 – January 6 Edition, also, Christ, COVID, & The Spirit Of Fear
American Thinker: What Do We Do With The FBI Now?
Animal Magnetism: Merry Christmas Eve!
Babalu Blog: After 7/11 Protests, A Christmas Of Brutal Repression In Cuba, also, Things You Only See In Miami
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm For December 24
Behind The Black: Red China launches Two Milsats With Long March 7A, also, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir – Psalm 34
Cafe Hayek: Freedom & Good Health Aren’t The Same
CDR Salamander: Today’s Front Line In Ukraine In The First Person
Da Tech Guy: Christian Thoughts Under The Fedora
Don Surber: Judge Calls Vax Mandate A Ruse, also, Left Denies There’s A Shoplifting Boom
First Street Journal: Brandon Makes Holders Of Student Loans Mad
Gates Of Vienna: What Corona Crisis? Close The Hospitals! also, Allahu Akbar! Vehicular Jihad In Marseille
The Geller Report: Illinois Poised To Divest From Unilever Amid Ben & Jerry’s Boycott Fallout, Hispanics’ Rightward March, and It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – In Israel
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, Christmas Eve 1968, and Blognet
Hollywood In Toto: Why Louis C.K. Doesn’t Deserve Permanent Cancellation, and Here’s The Best Reason To Watch Sing 2
The Lid: Did The Durham Investigation Give Patriots A Subtle Christmas Gift…Of Hope?
Legal Insurrection: Elementary School Bans “Jingle Bells”, SDSU Dean Complains About “Stench” Of Conservative Agenda, and Judge Finds NYT Improperly Obtained Project Veritas Attorney-Client Communications
Nebraska Energy Observer: A Christmas Story, also, Christmas Eve Amongst Friends
Outkick: USF Wins Gasparilla Bowl In Tampa 29-17 Over Florida Gators, Hawaii Bowl Canceled By Corona-chan, and ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, And Mrs. Saban Was Big Mad At Old St. Nick
Power Line: Thoughts From The Ammo Line, Merrick Garland’s Jailbreak, and Kamala Agonistes
Shark Tank: Miami-Dade Mayor Avoids Question About Removing Regeneron Data
Shot In The Dark: A Quick Christmas Announcement
STUMP: COVID Quickies
The Political Hat: The Twelve Posts Of Christmas 2021, Day 12
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, A Different Kind Of Valor Friday, and LTC Sheller Is No Longer A Marine
Transterrestrial Musings: Dave Barry
Victory Girls: Christmas Of Swing Honors WWII Veterans
Volokh Conspiracy: Feddie Night Festivus – Blackman Vs. Everybody!
Weasel Zippers: Biden Tries To Explain What DARPA Means, Fails Miserably, Despite Months-Long Concerns By Public Health Officials, Bad Orange Woman Defends Biden’s Testing Inaction, and Inflation Under Biden Fastest Growing In 40 Years
The Federalist: How Advent Teaches Us, Amidst Sorrow, To Rejoice, also, What Happened When I Decided To Get My Tree From The Mountains On Christmas Eve
Mark Steyn: Christmas Eve Lessons & Carols

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Category: Linkagery

Gosh, How Can I Get Readers to Pay Attention to the NFL’s COVID-19 Policy?

Posted on | December 24, 2021 | Comments Off on Gosh, How Can I Get Readers to Pay Attention to the NFL’s COVID-19 Policy?

Rachel Bush is an outspoken critic of the NFL’s COVID-19 policy. Perhaps you’ve never heard of her, and I had no idea who she was until this morning, when I started researching the upcoming game this Sunday between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills. In their earlier meeting — the Dec. 6 “wind tunnel” Monday Night Football game at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium — the Patriots only threw three passes in a 14-10 victory over the Bills. The outcome of Sunday’s rematch will almost certainly decide the AFC East title, so I’ve been reading all the pregame coverage, including the news that Buffalo wide receiver Cole Beasley has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the game Sunday.

This led to some controversy, because Beasley is an outspoken anti-vaxxer and, because he’s unvaccinated, NFL rules require him to be regularly tested for the virus. So he got back a positive test, even though he was having only mild symptoms. Meanwhile, one of Beasley’s teammates, Bills offensive guard Jon Feliciano, had to go to the emergency room with a COVID-19 case, even though Feliciano is vaccinated. This prompted Beasley to write on Instagram: “Just to be clear Covid is not keeping me out of this game. The rules are. Vaxxed players are playing with Covid every week now because they don’t test.”

Which brings us back to outspoken critic Rachel Bush.

Do I have your attention now? Read more

Category: Cold Fury, Football, Rule 5
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