End of Watch. Search continues for suspects after Bradley officer fatally shot, another critical | WGN-TV
Police said officers responded to reports of dogs barking in an unattended car parked in the parking lot. When they arrived, police found the room where the car’s possible owner was staying.
They were attacked, and shot. Marlene Rittmanic was killed. Officer Tyler Bradley is in critical condition. (Hat tip to Don Surber.)
Or as I like to say, Western Civilization was nice while it lasted. Predictions for 2022
I expect no dramatic improvements in the status quo. What has been happening will continue to happen. While I don’t expect any sudden acceleration in the collapse, it can’t be ruled out. Continue preparing yourself for a long period of bad news. Do the things-all of them. Acquire the tools and supplies you need to live out a long rough stretch. Safeguard your wealth, such as you may have left. Learn the skills that will help see you through.
COVID, Supply chain, inflation, etc. It will all be worse than you expect.
A bit of an abbreviated links post this week, but not too bad for a holiday week. I hope everyone has a fun and safe celebration. (If you can't be good, be careful!)
As for the cartoon... I'm sure it is just a coincidence that the 1973 movie Soylent Green was set in the far distant year of 2022.
bad cattitude - yes, the vaccines were supposed to stop covid spread. yes, the "experts" told us so. Exactly what they said, and how they are changing their tune.
this level of credulity leaves me wondering how the entire country has not already lost its savings in some internet scam.
Pirate's Cove - Democrats Still Banging The Drum Of Coming GOP Authoritarianism
ZOMG, a whole two historians! Who sure look to be Democratic voters.
Breitbart - Guardian ‘Person of the Year’ Poll Deactivated After J.K. Rowling Takes Lead Just a rumor, but interesting if true.
Daley Gator - UK to British, now, about those silly cars………. They actually say Brits will own nothing and be happy. Marxism lives.
Flopping Aces - Fauci turns on Trump to save his own ass. Are we shocked?
Manhattan Contrarian - Finally, New York State Tells The World How To Achieve Net Zero Carbon Emissions.
The technology to do this does not currently exist, but if we just order it to come into being, it will happen. The authors who presume to order this to happen don’t even pretend to know what technologies may be sufficient to reach their goals, or how much this may cost.
Again from Pirate's Cove - CDC Spins Away In Trying To Defend New Isolation Protocols.
The Other McCain - Nick Effing Wright Someone doesn't like Fox Sports.
Granite Grok - ICYMI – Sen. Rand Paul Leaves Scorch Marks All Over Biden’s “Health” Sec., Xavier Becerra.
Gates of Vienna - Honor Killing in Berlin.
Conservative Treehouse - Here We Go, Kraft Heinz Tells Grocery Retailers Price Increases Beginning 2022 Will Be Up to 20 Percent.
Common Sense - Abigail Shrier on Freedom in an Age of Fear.
Battleswarm Blog - Five Things About The Battle of the Bulge.
19th Ward Chicago - Lies, Lies and more Lies. On the police staffing shortage in Chicago and the impacts to 911 response.
Again from The Other McCain - Haunted by Marley’s Ghost? Does Robert Stacy actually have a heart?
Legal Insurrection - Book Review – Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America, By John McWhorter.
And again from Legal Insurrection - Heritage Foundation Report – “Inclusion Delusion: The Antisemitism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff at Universities”.
Massad Ayoob - HAPPY HOLIDAY
The Mrs. and I wish you all a wonderful holiday, whatever your belief system.
My Daily Kona - 30 years Ago, Premier Gorbachev Resignation signalled the end of the Soviet Union It amazes me how many people don't remember the USSR, especially people who should.
Moonbattery - Watch Los Angeles Collapse Into Lawlessness
Violence has snatched the American Dream away from people living in the cities. 2 killings in 8 hours leave Brookstown reeling as Baton Rouge violence soars: 'I'm sick of crime tape'
The article is the story of a couple of residents in a Baton Rouge neighborhood that has been plagued with crime and saw 2 deadly shootings in a few hours. You can click thru for those details; a picture of a neighborhood abandoned by the authorities to crime. The residents described it as a nice place, decades ago when they made it their home.
The fatal shootings added to an already unprecedented spike in Baton Rouge gun violence fueling a record-breaking parishwide homicide rate. The Christmas holiday brought no respite from the violence, which began surging during the early months of the pandemic last year. One person was gunned down Christmas morning at a Sherwood Meadows apartment complex, and another man was killed the following day on McClelland Drive.
Brookstown residents said their neighborhood is no stranger to gun violence, but the recent deaths had them reeling. The two homicide scenes were less than a quarter mile apart, so close they almost overlapped.
This is what a resident of that neighborhood had to say about the rising tide of violence in Baton Rouge.
Her neighbor, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said she has spent decades working multiple jobs, paying taxes and raising a child in Brookstown. She said she constantly fears for her life because gunfire is so frequent near her house.
"We don't deserve this," she said. "We are homeowners. We go to work every day. At my age, I'm supposed to be enjoying my retirement."
Above all, she wants more police in the neighborhood, beat cops who become familiar faces and invest in the community. She believes more police presence could have a real impact on preventing violence before tragedy strikes. [SNIP]
Her adult son is moving away for graduate school next year. The woman said she hopes he never moves back to Louisiana, where she believes the American Dream is largely inaccessible for Black people.
So who exactly has years of dismantling the Criminal Justice System in various cities around the country helped, and who has it hurt? Who has benefited, aside from the criminals, from the whole Defund the Police movement? Who have been impacted by falling real estate values? And who has benefited from the chaos?
Like many politicians and government agencies, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is feeling the heat as Chicagoans grow increasingly weary of violent crime and stories about lax prosecution.
The office, headed by Kim Foxx, is fighting back with a new talking point in which it claims that prosecutors approve 86% of felony cases that Chicago police bring in for review. It’s unclear if that means the office approves the charges sought by police or if the 86% includes cases in which prosecutors approve significantly reduced charges.
And whatever that 86% signifies, they only convict 60% of the time. Maybe that means they are trying to win really marginal cases, and maybe it means that they suck at their jobs.
Click thru for a select couple of examples, including how the judges just go along with everything.
And You don't have to agree with everything someone says. I don't, even if we are sometimes on the same team. How We Changed Our Minds in 2021 - Common Sense.
When did America become a place where you have to agree with everything I say, or you're an enemy of everything decent? And also, changing opinions used to be expected. You got older and wiser, and changed your thoughts on things.
Enes Kanter Freedom on his name. Ayaan Hirsi Ali on liberalism. Tim Urban on religion. Plus: Nellie Bowles, Ross Douthat, Chloé Valdary, Karol Markowicz, and Balaji Srinivasan.
Because Their culture does not accept divorce. Germany: 2 men charged in killing of their sister - ABC News
The indictment states that the men wanted to punish their sister “for her Western-oriented way of life, which did not correspond to their archaic ideas of honor and morals and their image of women,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Her family forced her to get married at 16 to a violent man. When she got to Germany she got rid of him, but to her brothers that was a crime worthy of death. Because that is how they do things in the Old Country, Afghanistan. So the strangled her, cut her throat, dismembered her body, packed it in a suitcase and took it on a train to Bavaria, and buried her near her elder brother's home.
That is a demonstration of Family Values, or something.
There is some media attention on this story. The link above is to the ABC News' website and I saw a bit in the Associated Press, but not much else.
The hat tip goes mostly to Gates of Vienna, who sent me looking for more, since I know how people hate stories that are in German.
The Chicago Transit Authority wants a "Full" prosecution of criminals. Too bad the State's Attorney and her band of non-prosecutors don't agree. CTA signs promise "fullest" prosecution of crimes against passengers and employees. Don't bet on it. - CWB Chicago.
“For your protection,” the signs say, “anyone who commits a crime against a customer or employee of CTA will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
And under Illinois law, physically assaulting a transit passenger or transit employee automatically qualifies as a felony.
Click thru for a few examples of crimes that should have been charged as felonies, but were not. Why not? Because kicking someone in the head (for no reason) or stabbing them isn't all that serious. Or so says Kim Foxx & Company.
I guess police don't know the rules of gun safety. Know your target and what is beyond it. Burlington shooting: Valentina Orellana-Peralta ID'd as LAPD victim
Cops were responding to a busy store where there were reports of assault with deadly weapon, and shots fired. (No firearm was recovered.) Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year-old girl who was trying on dresses in a changing room, was killed.
Witnesses told KCBS-TV that the suspect, who has not been identified, began acting erratically, threatening to throw items from the upper floor and attacked a woman with a bicycle lock shortly in the store crowded with holiday shoppers.
Police fatally shot the suspect but one of the bullets went through drywall behind the man and killed Valentina, who was in a changing room with her mother, police said.
You or I would be charge with "negligent" or "reckless" something. Cops will express remorse and spend a week or two on administrative duty, if not administrative leave (that's a bit like vacation), and go back to work like nothing happened.
[Police Chief Michel] Moore said although the investigation will determine what happened, it did not appear the officer who fired the shots would have known there was anyone behind the wall.
Yeah. How could you possibly know there was someone on the other side of that wall, which was designed solely to keep people from seeing? Of course if he didn't know it was clear, he should not have taken the shot.
Moore had much to say about the chaos of the situation, and how sorry he and everyone is. Blah blah blah.
But that is the world we've created. Cops enjoy immunity for just about everything that they do, even if it is stupid and reckless.
Because knowing right from wrong in your 30s is a bridge too far. It is just an unreasonable expectation in 2021. Pretty Ricky member Baby Blue sentenced in COVID relief scam | Miami Herald
Diamond "Baby Blue" Smith, a rapper from Miami, perpetrated a scheme to defraud the federal .gov through bogus Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to the tune of $24 million.
That was his "mistake."
The “Love and Hip Hop: Miami” star is alleged to have received massive PPP loans for his two companies, Throwbackjersey.com LLC, and Blue Star Records LLC, using falsified documents.
Aside from this he was shot at a bowling alley in April, and spent time in an ICU. Now he's been sentenced to 20 months in prison, and about $2.2 million in restitution and forfeiture.
He is also releasing a song entitled "Scapegoat" because nothing is really his fault.
If you think it can't happen in your part of the world, you know nothing of history. The Jackboots Have Arrived - NYPD Begin Arresting Unvaccinated Americans During Indoor COVID Compliance Checks - The Last Refuge
Comrades, many American citizens stood jaw agape as they watched Australian metropolitan police departments begin cracking skulls and making arrests for violating COVID rules and restrictions. Yes, it always seemed like Australia, New Zealand and Europe were the beta testing ground to see if police would comply with jackboot arrests of their own community.
Well, now we can see those same tactics being deployed in the U.S.
Because you shall not disobey is the only thing cops care about. The Constitution? They threw that out in New Orleans after Katrina, when the sheriff ordered the confiscation of all guns. They 2nd Amendment - that no longer applied in Lousisana after Katrina. "Because I said so, that's why!"
As we witnessed in Australia, once the police officers start carrying out these types of operations, the only way to make it stop is to make them uncomfortable. That requires mass non-compliance by large numbers of citizens to overcome the mental barrier the police use to justify their conduct.
There is more and you should click thru. I will leave you with the quiote from Solzhenitsyn that the Conservative Treehouse ends with.
…“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?… The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
A bit late today, and missing some notable posts, but it is the holiday season, and people deserve a break the routine. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Personally I'm looking forward to the end of 2021. I would like to say 2022 can't be worse than 2021, but I have faith that the Biden Administration is up to that challenge.
Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkage
The Other McCain: Gosh, How Can I Get Readers to Pay Attention to the NFL’s COVID-19 Policy?
Bustednuckles: Oh Yeah…
Pirate's Cove - Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup – Christmas Edition
- LMAO has some Christmas cartoons and memes
- Jihad Watch features the Bishop of Canterbury doing some Jew hating
J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 12/27/21
Daniel Greenfield: "Kyle reminds us that any American can stand up to evil. And win."
FrontPage Magazine's Man of the Year - Kyle Rittenhouse
Flopping Aces (with a link I missed on Saturday) - The Week in Radical Leftism, 12/24/21
12/15 – It’s Time to Quarantine the Vaxed!
12/16 – Poll: The Overwhelming Majority of Americans Oppose New Covid Restrictions
EBL - How To Pronounce Omicron ☣️🤔
I personally say it this way: /ˈkämən kōld/
Instapundit: Karens set to shut down New Year over Omicron
Daley Gator - Christmas Posts from here and there
Pirates Cove YES Virginia…….
Mike Miles reminds us to honor the troops
Mike McDaniel has some Christmas gifts for y’all
A View from the Beach - Election Doxing Day Continues
At Da Mail, NASCAR driver Brandon Brown who inadvertently sparked 'Let's Go Brandon!' anti-Biden chant says he has been CANCELLED: Phrase has made it 'extremely difficult' for him to get sponsorship.
Vlad Tepes - Three year olds must be under a lot of stress these days, and revisiting Swine flu: Links 2, December 27th, 2021
1. Three year old girl dies of Cardiac Arrest one day after getting the Chinese Cinopharm shot
2. On the crushing impact of Covid measures on children
Don Surber - Highlights of the News
ITEM 6: Red State reported, "Media Whines About New Study Finding Omicron Hard to Distinguish From Common Cold."
Omicron is covid evolving into another cold virus.
Gates of Vienna - News Feed 12/27/2021
Biden’s Approval Rating Plummets to a Brutal 36 Percent
A new poll put out by Civiqs shows President Biden’s approval rating continuing to steadily sink. These newest numbers put the president at a meager 36 percent approval rating
Cafe Hayek - Some Covid Links
Aaron Hertzberg bust the myth that facemasks are a ‘mere inconvenience.‘
Jacob Sullum reports that “the CDC Director’s slippery response to criticism of school mask mandates further undermines her agency’s credibility.”
Maggie's Farm - Boxing Day links
Federal Taxpayers Forced to Pay California Mortgages
NY Supreme Court Delivers a Beat Down to the New York Times in Project Veritas Case
I leave you with Sunday Funnies: Kwanza Edition, 12-26-21 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Happy Funday and Some Leftover Christmas Memes ~ 2 from Woodsterman, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, and Sunday Memes … from MaddMedic.
It wasn't the FBI (Funded But Incompetent) this time. But still... Denver, Lakewood shooting spree: 47-year-old man who killed 5 people, injured 2 identified
Police identified the shooter as Lyndon McLeod, 47, and said he knew many of the people he targeted. McLeod had previously been investigated by law enforcement in 2020 and 2021 but that the investigations did not lead to state or federal charges, Denver police Chief Paul Pazen said.
“This individual was on the radar of law enforcement,” Pazen said.
Not that being "on the RADAR" does any good, it seems. This isn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last. Here's a sample, collected by Conservative Treehouse from March of this year, of what the FBI knew ahead of time in face of mass shootings.
Those are just off-the-top of my head… Anyone notice a pattern?
Meanwhile the political FBI agents chase the ghosts of mysteriously invisible white supremacists conducting random acts of unidentified racism.
In the current case, McLeod knew several of the people he killed. As I type this, not all the details have been released, my guess is that they are still trying to track down next of kin for some of the victims.
The rampage moved from Denver to Lakewood (near to Denver) and included at least one running gun battle with police.
McLeod, who died after being shot by a Lakewood police agent, opened fire in at least six different locations across the two cities before dying in an exchange of gunfire with a Lakewood police agent in the busy Belmar shopping district. Romero did not identify the agent who shot McLeod, but said she killed him after McLeod shot her in the abdomen. The agent underwent emergency surgery Monday night and is expected to survive.
I was sent to look for more information on this story by The Other McCain and Denver Gunman Kills 4, Wounds 3.
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.
Of course that is understating the situation. HeyJackass! which views the latest weekend as running from 12 PM Friday thru 6 AM Monday counted 4 killed and 28 wounded. A typical weekend in the summer would be much worse.
And Robert Stacy McCain has an update on how McLeod was known to law enforcement. Denver Shooting Rampage Update: Gunman Identified as Tattoo Artist Lyndon McLeod, Was Known to Cops.
Denver Shooting Rampage Update: Gunman Identified as Tattoo Artist Lyndon McLeod, Was Known to Cops Posted on | December 28, 2021 | 1 Comment Before the identity of the Denver shooter was known, I’d predicted that we would “eventually be told the gunman “struggled with mental health issues,’” and sure enough, Lyndon James McLeod, 47, “had a history of psychiatric episodes,” according to “multiple law enforcement sources.” [SNIP]
He seems to have targeted other local tattoo artists.
So the motive was revenge, probably for imaginary wrongs. That is to say, the people McLeod murdered hadn’t actually done anything wrong to him, but in his mind they were villains, because they were successful and he was not.
There is more, at both the Other McCain links, the Conservative Treehouse link, and the link to the Denver Post at the top.
And the authorities in that part of the world don't like self-defense. Investigation Underway After Suspected Trespasser Fatally Shot by Cupertino Homeowner: Sheriff.
Sheriff's deputies responded to a 4:08 a.m. call regarding a homeowner firing shots at a trespasser at a residence in the 20000 block of Patric Court, according to Sheriff's Deputy Russell Davis. The deputies found a man with at least one gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene, Davis said.
Are they hoping to charge the homeowner with a crime? Probably.
Self-defense is a human-right, but I wouldn't count on California, or some parts of that state anyway, to recognize it as a legal right.
HeyJackass! has the complete stats. X-Mass Shooting Weekend.
Have yourself a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Christmas that’s filled with severe illness and death.
Final X-Mass Tally: 4 killed, 28 wounded
Click thru for stats from prior years, and links to some news stories on the shootings.
A duet between two of my favorite rock singers can't be let go to waste.
I think that Halestorm and Evanescence were planning (or maybe still are planning) a concert tour together. I think it got postponed somewhat due to COVID-19. I am not as in touch with the concert-scene as I once was. In any event, here is a song they put together for Lzzy Hale and Amy Lee to sing as a duet.
This song is "Break In" by Halestorm, featuring vocals by Amy Lee. The song originally appeared on Halestorm's 2012 album The Strange Case Of..., though that was not a duet. This version was released in August of 2020 on the album/EP Reimagined. Strangely, it is available on vinyl, and as an MP3 of course.
Home invaders keep getting shot. You would think that the bad guys would understand this by now. Homeowner Shoots, Kills Neighbor Who Forced Way In, Grand Prairie Police Say
A man Grand Prairie Police said forced his way into someone else’s home was shot and killed Thursday afternoon, Dec. 23.
Apparently they were neighbors, which I take to mean there was some kind of disagreement. He should have found a different way to settle things.
Self-defense is a human-right, and while the investigation is ongoing, this took place in Texas, not New Jersey.
In Chicago. And elsewhere. On Chicago: Merry Christmas and an Unhappy New Year | Chicago Contrarian
Second City Cop is posting at Chicago Contrarian these days. Its a good thing, but his message about the prospects for 2022 sound bleak. And while he understandably focuses on Chicago, I doubt that most other large cities are in better shape.
Mayor Lightfoot said that merchants in Chicago should hire more security. And then she blew a gasket when a north-side neighborhood did exactly that. And the situation is not going to get better anytime soon.
Districts across the city are going to see a 10-to-15 percent manpower reduction next year, 20-to-25 percent on the day shift alone. Most Districts are experiencing it right now. Lightfoot cut 600 unfilled positions, 800 cops hit the retirement door in 2021, another 200 lateraled away to other departments and 900 more are scheduled to leave in 2022. When the retro-checks hit bank accounts in January, would anyone be surprised if another few hundred cops said, “See ya!” and left overnight?
As for recruiting to make up the numbers, click thru for the dismal statistics. I will only quote one incident.
The first week of December, the Academy was slated to start a class....of fourteen cadets. Eight showed up. Class was canceled until they could get it over twenty-five, which might have happened this past Monday. So yeah, Lightfoot is going to hire her way out of this disaster, especially after two years of demonizing the entire profession, removing every tool that has been proven to work in policing and failing to hold anyone responsible for criminal behavior....unless you’re an officer making a minor procedural error. Then it’s the gallows for you!
The police are going to decide - if they haven't already - that actually policing in Chicago is a losing proposition. Some will stick it out for the next few years until they retire. The newbies, if there are any left, will head elsewhere. The cops with 10 to 15 years on the job will probably keep their heads down and disengage. Or leave if things are bad enough, and they sound like they are bad enough. Though maybe in another few years things will start to get better again.
The problem is I don't think the voters in Chicago will stop voting for people like Groot (Mayor Lightfoot) or Crimesha (State's Attorney Kim Foxx). And as long as they do, law and order will deteriorate, because the Rule of Law is not as important as Social Justice.
Wut? Kamala Harris says democracy biggest national security threat
The press will be all about how she "misspoke." But imagine for a moment if a Republican said this.
During the interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked her about the one national security threat that keeps her up at night worrying.
“Frankly, one of them is our democracy. There is, I think, no question in the minds of people who are foreign policy experts that the year 2021 is not the year 2000,” she said.
OK. She backtracked and "explained" and whatever. If Trump had said this, even if he did everything she did, it would be "impeach the traitor" 24/7. Or Desantis, or any other Republican.
There is a reason Harris got a tiny amount of the Democratic vote in the Democratic primary.
Another, new to me, European Melodeath band with a female singer doing the Death Metal, Death Growl? Sure, why not. Melodeath is short for Melodic Death Metal.
Aephanemer is a French band. Don't worry, they sing in English, which I'm sure offends their sensibilities. According to Encyclopedia Metallum,
Aephanemer is a portmanteau of the two French words "éphémère" (ephemeral), and "fanée" (wilted).
Antigone (ann-TIG-ə-nee) is a play written by Sophocles in about 441 BC. It is a tragedy, and it is the 3rd of the Theban Plays.
I only tripped over Aephanemer and their new album just before Christmas, so I haven't heard enough of them to say whether or not I like them. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Marion Bascoul does a decent job with the Death Growl, and Martin Hamiche is a credible lead guitar player, but as usual, I'm not sure if I care for the songwriting. Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't.
This song is "Antigone" by Aephanemer, from their November, 2021 album A Dream of Wilderness.
Man shot after attempting to rob a family dollar in winston-salem
Investigators say the man attempted to steal money from the cash register while holding his hand in his clothing, appearing to have a gun. The store clerk fired multiple shots at the suspect, according to police reports.
They were able to identify the suspect and tracked him to a residence, where he was taken into custody with the aid of a K-9 officer.
So the clerk shot him in the leg, and then the dog bit him on the arm. After that, he was arrested. I'm guessing that is not how he saw his day working out.
Self-defense is a human-right.
Or if they didn't come for hours? Bloody Portland is struggling to reverse the deadly consequences of its BLM-Antifa agenda, but it's too little and too late, writes journalist Andy Ngo
A lot of places are struggling after 2 years of BLM/Antifa, but Portland may be the worst. "Portland turned over its streets" to the rioters and attacked police and the rule of law, and now that city is reaping the rewards of that policy
Now it's dealing with yet another year of surging murders, shootings, riots, homeless encampments, mass looting and violent criminality.
And it is hurting the taxpayers of the city.
A riot, in which Antifa tried to burn down the county jail, after the Rittenhouse verdict, delayed other response times around the city. And then there is this.
Two days after the riot, a Portland woman called 911 at 3:37 p.m. pleading for help because she was in a hostage situation.
Responding officers were fired upon at the residence in question, forcing them to retreat and call in specialized units.
10 hours after the 911 call, police ended the standoff, but Mariela Gonzalez Rocha was already dead.
Response times are up 60% since before the riots. Low-priority 911 calls are just being ignored. Cops don't have the man power to respond.
The consequences of the political decision-making by Wheeler and those on the city council to defund and demoralize law enforcement after George Floyd's death is clear: more black and brown people are dying—and few are able to get the help they need when they call police.
There is much more at the link above. The prosecutor. The City Council, where at least a few members are trying to reverse course on the lawlessness. Mayor Wheeler. And Cops. Click thru.
The Other McCain has a nearly year-end Killadelphia Update
Philadelphia passed its previous record of 500 homicides earlier in the year.
The bodies keep stacking up in “Killadelphia,” which is now nearing 550 homicides on the year
Based on population, as of the 2020 census, the homicide rate if Philadelphia is higher than the rate in 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.
Click thru for the details.
It isn't the first bridge to collapse because of overwieght trucks, and it won't be the last. 4 dead in collapse of highway flyover in central China
So an 11-year-old highway bridge collapsed in China last week, killing 4 people.
The accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the city of Ezhou, with about 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the bridge built over an expressway collapsing onto the roadway below, according to transport and police authorities.
Early indications are that a truck weighing nearly 200 tons was on the bridge when it failed.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a truck weighing a total of 198 tons had broken into two pieces while falling off the structure. The newspaper Beijing News said the truck was four times over the allowable weight limit on the flyover.
Trucks in this country are usually limited to about 80,000 pounds. That truck in China weighed in at 396,000 pounds. Which is amazing. (Though I guess the weight limit in China is more like 100,000 pounds.)
I'll bet that it is not the first time a truck weighing significantly more than the limit has gone over that bridge. "Nothing failed the first time, so we can obviously ignore the limits. We can just keep piling on the load, right?" I will also bet that no one responsible for the decision to wildly overload trucks were one of the 4 people who died. They probably don't even know the people who died. Because there is very little Justice in the universe.
And it isn't just in China where people ignore the weight limits. Here is a case in France, and a case in Missouri.
Why do people think that they are protected by their zip code? 'I'm glad he had a gun': Neighbors thinking of Abbottstown couple attacked by naked intruder
A guy was acting erratically, trying to get into homes, banging on cars, making traffic stop, etc.
While troopers were responding to the scene, Shaffer, who was wearing only a shirt, entered the couple's home in the 900 block of Green Springs Road and started assaulting the husband.
The husband told his wife to retrieve a gun from the bedroom. Shaffer followed and attacked her. The husband managed to get the revolver and shot Shaffer, who died at the scene.
As for the neighbors...
"I never did think anything like this would happen," neighbor Roy Reed said.
Crime is not something that only happens in "other kinds of places" to "other kinds of people." If you can read this, then you live in the Real World™ where crime can, and all too often, does happen. You should plan accordingly.
Click thru for more details, and though they do not say, it is clear to me that this is a case of self defense. Both of the elderly couple ended up in the hospital, and the wife was severly injured to the point of being evacuated by helicopter.
Self-defense is a human-right.
This is a tragedy that could have been prevented. #61: Felon shot and killed the mother of his children while he was on bail for possessing a stolen firearm, prosecutors say - CWB Chicago.
A Chicago man shot and killed the mother of his children while on bond for being a felon in possession of a weapon in April and then fled to Texas, prosecutors said Tuesday. The murder of Jessica Johnson, 30, came just a few months after Edward Roscoe, 29, allegedly dropped their 4-month-old daughter, killing her.
Roscoe is the 61st person accused of killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while awaiting trial for a felony. A total of 93 victims are involved in those crimes — 25 of them were murdered.
25 dead bodies because non-prosecuting attorney Kim Foxx, and the people that work for her, and the judges in charge of the Criminal Justice System believe that keeping violent criminals in jail is unfair.
It is becoming a thing in Los Angeles. California homeowner shot during residential robbery in Los Angeles, authorities say
There are details of a couple of instances, but the overall statistics is what I find interesting.
The LAPD announced in mid-November that it is investigating more than 110 robberies involving at least six different street gangs in which the victims were followed home. The LAPD had issued a warning regarding the "follow-home robberies" earlier in November after a series of incidents.
The LAPD has instituted a task force to deal with the issue, after one such robbery resulted in a homicide, but it doesn't look like that task force has made a lot of progress.
What happens when the Rule of Law breaks down? You end up living in a state that Hobbes described as War. Hobbes' description of the state of war, which exists in the breakdown of law and order is from his book, Leviathan.
The Right Way - Top of the News
“Defund the police” advocate, new US Attorney fuming that she’s losing taxpayer paid protection detail - IOTW Report
Strange Days: Yule Log Edition- American Digest
Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 12.22.21
The Geller Report: UK Team Including Former Pfizer VP Files Suit Against Gates, Fauci & Others For Crimes Against Humanity At The ICC
EBL - Waukesha Christmas Massacre 🎄😢😡: Gov. Tony Evans asked to fire D.A. John Chisholm
Instapundit: Wisconsin Citizens File Suit to Recall Chisholm
RCP: Recall and Replace Every Soros Prosecutor
A View from the Beach - Election BS: Dems Want Jan. 6 to be National Holiday?
The Geller Report: reports the DC Librarian Who Made Kids Reenact Holocaust Is Failed Dem Candidate, Convicted Fraudster, & Animal Abuser. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoes curriculum transparency bill
Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.23.21
Transterrestrial Musings: Space Solar Power, also, Fighting Wokeness From Within
Victory Girls: States Ban Abortion Pill RX Via Telehealth, also, Christmas Battles, Truces, & Bob Hope
Cafe Hayek - Some Covid Links
Ron Bailey summarizes a new BMJ paper by David Robertson and Peter Doshi – a paper the conclusion of which is that the Covid-19 pandemic will end when people stop paying attention to it
Battleswarm Blog - LinkSwarm for December 24, 2021
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an evil empire who’s passing made the world a better place. Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Pope John Paul II and even George H. W. Bush all had key roles in bringing the Cold War to a successful close.
Once again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.24.21
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
Don Surber - Highlights of the News
ITEM 15: Hong Kong Free Press reported, "Workers at the University of Hong Kong removed the Tiananmen Massacre monument late on Wednesday night, months after the university said the statue must go."
Vlad Tepes - MUST WATCH: Hidden camera of pharmacist shows all you need to know about the shots – Links 1, December 24, 2021
2. A pharmacist answers questions. THIS IS A MUST SEE
3. Ron DeSantis on freedom and liberty in the face of escalating threats to them via “omi cron”
Gates of Vienna - News Feed 12/24/2021
Students Agree ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Is Not ‘Gender Inclusive’
Campus Reform’s Logan Dubil went to the University of Pittsburgh to ask students about whether or not the classic Christmas song “Frosty the Snowman” is inclusive enough
Maggie's Farm - Thursday morning links
Ontario Schools Will No Longer Require Teachers to Pass Math Proficiency Test Due to ‘Racial Disparities’
It Starts: Advice To Climate Cultists On Bringing Up ‘Climate Change’ At The Dinner Table
J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 12/23/21
"So far, there has only been one confirmed death in the United States from the Omicron variant." (if you can believe it - jjs)
STUDY: Omicron Variant is 80% Less Likely to Cause Hospitalization Than Previous Strains
Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Gloom Sets In At the White House As Aides Head For the Exits
• Buzzfeed wants to 'deplatform white parents' PM
• I hope everyone in America gets Omicron Chadwick Moore
Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 12/24/2021
First Britain declared its first Omicron death, but when reporters called the hospital they were told it was untrue, now reporters call the hospital of the first US Omicron death, and are told it never happened as well.
I leave you with Wednesday gifdump from Wirecutter, Thursday Memes … from MaddMedic, and Cartoon Round Up.... from Theo Spark.
The holidays do bring out the worst in people. Man brings BB gun to gunfight...with his wife
After initial investigation, police said a married couple were in their home when the man, aged 50, produced a BB gun and fired shots at his wife. Initial reports from first responders indicated at least one BB lodged in the woman's arm.
In response, the 42-year-old woman produced a real handgun and returned fire, striking her husband in the abdomen with the unknown caliber bullet exiting his back.
He's in critical condition; she was taken to the hospital and is in good condition.
You would think that he would have known what to expect. Detectives are investigating. Which probably means that the powers that be are hoping they can charge her with something. It is Chicago, after all.
What happens when you don't hold people accountable for their criminal behavior? They decide that there is no reason to change that behavior. And how many cities have the same lack of consequences aside from Chicago?
Why would he change his behavior? What is the price of being a criminal? 18-year-old who received probation for 3 robberies as a juvenile last year is now charged with armed carjacking - CWB Chicago
An 18-year-old man who was convicted of three separate robbery cases last year in juvenile court is now charged as an adult with hijacking a driver at gunpoint this month. And, prosecutors say, one of his accomplices in the carjacking is a juvenile who had a rifle strapped across his chest and a handgun in his waistband when police arrested him shortly after the crime.
My prediction is that they will turn him loose again. They won't keep him in jail unless he actually kills someone in a robbery.
Then there is this guy. Charged with 3 burglary-related cases since May, man tells judge the latest accusations are ‘bullsh*t’
Multiple arrests on various felonies. When he was arrested for going AWOL on a prior charge Kim Foxx's band of non-prosecuting attorneys decided to just turn him loose.
A judge issued a warrant for his arrest. Cops eventually found him, and he was brought back to court on August 30. His punishment for going AWOL on a felony case? Nothing. Prosecutors actually dropped all of the charges when he showed up in court that day, according to court records.
And again, with no consequences, his behavior did not change. (I'm shocked!)
Police arrested him again in Rogers Park on November 24. A CPD spokesperson said Chavez refused to leave private property and had items taken during a burglary in Mount Prospect.
He was charged with theft, two counts of theft of lost or mislaid property, and criminal trespass to a residence. He walked out of the police station on his own recognizance less than eight hours later, according to CPD records.
Any guesses on what he did next? Click thru.
This indicates that what passes for a Criminal Justice System in Chicago is not interested in public order, or reducing crime. But we knew that. And it is not limited to Chicago.
I can never decide if I like Justin Johnson's music. He is technically proficient. He has even built a couple of instruments using cigar boxes as a body, but he usually plays a guitar, either a resonator or a more standard 6-string. I guess I do like today's song. I'm not sure how I first tripped over his work, but it was sometime during the early days of COVID, so probably just via a random walk around the internet. It may have been courtesy of YouTube or Pandora. Pretty sure it was not by way of Spotify.
This song is "Ghost of the Mountain" by Justin Johnson.
Is this suitable for Christmas? Probably not, but I am heartily sick of Christmas music, even the alternative stuff.
And a bikini model. Gosh, How Can I Get Readers to Pay Attention to the NFL’s COVID-19 Policy?
Some of my readers may complain that it’s unfair to use a bikini model to call attention to this problem, but it has long been my belief that there is no such thing as an “unfair advantage” in life.
Go ahead and click thru.
The Other McCain brings us Ironic Justice: Two Anti-Police Lawmakers Get Carjacked
These stories were covered earlier in the week, but as usually Robert Stacy McCain has more details.
The Biden DOJ, which has been ignoring (or perhaps encouraging) the year-long violent crime wave in America, sprang into action once the criminals targeted a Democratic congresswoman.
Some stats on the state of Carjacking, various bits of info from the U.S. Attorney's website, and more.
End of Watch. Keona Holley: Baltimore Police officer who was shot while sitting in her patrol car has died - CNN
The fatal shooting occurred at 1:30 a.m. on December 16 when an assailant "apparently walked up somewhere from the rear of the (police) vehicle or alongside the vehicle and began firing into the vehicle striking our officer," Harrison said last week. Holley then accelerated the patrol vehicle and crashed, officials said.
Given her deteriorating health, she was pulled off of life support on Thursday.
Two men, Elliot Knox, 31, and Travon Shaw, 32, are in custody for the shooting. They had been charged with attempted murder. That will change.
Adaptive Curmudgeon starts things off with Squirrels: Chapter 8: Part 00: The Squirrels Are Back
Another installment of Attack of the Lesbian Activist Squirrels will go live in a few hours! It’s my Christmas present to the world.
The Other McCain - Joe Biden, Blamer-in-Chief
Nothing is his fault, ever.
Granite Grok - Based on The Data, This IS a Pandemic of THE VACCINATED!
Adam Piggott - Formula 1 2021 – The defeat of Woke
Claire Wolfe - Violence, fantasy and reality: Where does it go from here? Part II The Misery Index, collapse of law and order, and where we go from here.
Pirate's Cove - “All Events Nowadays Are Augmented By ‘Climate Change'” Or Something
This is what science looks like when it’s consumed by a doomsday cult
A View from the Beach - Medical Journal Slams Facebook Fact Checkers
John Sexton at Hot Air - What standard should we hold Joe Biden to on COVID deaths?
Gun Free Zone - Getting hypoxia to own the Cons
Irons in the Fire - This is how I see it, too In a world where the vaccinated can give the disease to the vaccinated Firehand has some conclusions.
Baldilocks - Remembering Philip Ochieng Juliette O's eulogy for her father.
Meep at Stump - I come to bury Build Back Better, and dance on its grave The charts on inflation are the part I find most interesting.
Chicago Contrarian - Chicago's Latin School Screens Jewish Families for Wokeness Hard work and family structure as an antidote to discrimination torpedoes the Woke narrative, and so the "elite" schools can't have Jews in their midst. (Is it 1950 again?)
Again from The Other McCain - Joe Manchin Wrecks ‘Build Back Better,’ Ruins Christmas for Democrats
Victory Girls - Erasing Girls In The Name of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity
Again from Granite Grok - Weaponizing the State: Does NH DCYF Have a “Bitter Clingers” Problem?
Flopping Aces - Amazon Turned The Wheel of Time into The Wheel of Woke Because of course they did. Hollywood in 2021.
Off the Reservation - A great sifting of men
When the sane start talking about [Bronze Age Collapse] level events, I really start paying attention.
Jazz Shaw at Hot Air - Nick Sandmann reaches settlement with NBC A "hat trick" of settlements.
Stephen Kruiser at PJ Media - The Morning Briefing: Manchin Exposes Dems' Ignorance of Flyover America
Gun Curious - Sociology of Guns Seminar Student Final Reflection #6: Gun Culture is Much More Complex Than It Seems While I can't link to all of the Student Reflection papers from Professor David Yamane's seminar on Gun Culture 2.0, I thought I should include 1. They are fairly interesting given they are written by college students.
Front Page - 6 Black Men Were Responsible for 70 Attacks on Asian Women
Will these arrests stop the media from repeating the lie that the attacks on Asian people by criminals have something to do with President Trump calling out China over the Wuhan Virus?
The Gateway Pundit - Doing Satan’s Work: Pentagon Orders Company to Stop Making Faith-Based Dog Tags (Video)
Again from Gun Free Zone - Say goodbye to air combat superiority
OldAFSarge at Chant du Départ - Deep in the Forest
In the woods to the east-northeast of the town of St. Vith, in the Belgian Ardennes, stands a memorial to an officer of the United States Army who died fighting the Germans during their last ditch offensive of World War II. The battle we know as the Battle of the Bulge.
Again from The Other McCain - ‘Shopping Cart Killer’ Caught, Police Say A serial killer who met his victims via online dating. A cautionary tale if there ever was one.
Again from Pirate's Cove - NYC Liberals Afraid To Work In Offices From Bad COVID Winter Scroll to the end for a comparison of New York and Florida.
Manhattan Contrarian - Which Country Or U.S. State Will Be The First To Hit The Renewable Energy Wall?
Four jurisdictions stand out from the rest, two of them European countries and the other two U.S. states: Germany, the UK, California, and New York.
And finally from OldAFSarge at Chant du Départ - Adventures in Dentistry Sarge is having some dental issues just in time for the holiday.
Or how would you respond to 3 home invaders breaking in at 1 AM? Florida homeowner shoots 3 intruders, 2 fatally: sheriff
A teen was facing charges for a would-be armed home invasion robbery in Florida in which his two accomplices were shot and killed and he was wounded, authorities said.
The person who shot them was the homeowner victim who had a gun and used it to defend himself when he encountered the intruders in his home in Wesley Chapel shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
The Left will only want to see this as a "teen, tragically shot." The fact that said teen was committing a felony at the time his intended victim lawfully defended himself is not of interest to the Left. "Don't clutter the issue with facts!"
Luis Casado, 21, and Khyle Durham, 21, were shot as they walked down a narrow hallway toward the homeowner, the sheriff said. They had guns and covered their faces with black masks.
Oh, and the "teen" is 19-year-old Jeremiah Trammel, who is a legal adult. He ran out of the house when the homeowner's gun jammed, but a neighbor - also armed - held him for police.
Here is a cautionary tale:
The sheriff said the homeowner believes he may have been targeted because of his gun collection, which he has displayed on social media
Yeah. Don't do that.
Felony Murder being a thing in Florida, Trammel is charged with murder for the deaths of his two accomplices. The Left will be screeching about how that is unfair shortly.
“The victim in this case was exercising his Second Amendment right to protect himself in his home,” [Sheriff] Nocco said.
Self-defense is a human-right, and in Florida it is mostly your legal right.
Private Security is better than no security. Bucktown residents hire private security firm to patrol neighborhood | WGN-TV
So much for "Paying high taxes to get great services!"
A group of private armed security guards are set to begin patrolling a portion of Bucktown due to rise in carjackings and crime this year.
The Bucktown Neighbors Association is hiring P4 — a private security firm with offices downtown and in Downers Grove.
But paying more is probably better than living in fear. Of course you could just leave Chicago (or any other large city) since it has abandoned the Rule of Law.
If you have to get the sheriff's approval, you might have to contribute to the reelection fund. This is not a new phenomenon. Concealed-carry corruption: California sheriff indicted for selling permits
What happens when public officials get the authority to act capriciously and arbitrarily to determine whether citizens can exercise their rights? Eventually, some of them explore all of the wisdom contained in the axiom “power corrupts.” A civil grand jury indicted the sheriff of Santa Clara County, California yesterday on several counts of corruption, mainly involving the abuse of Laurie Smith’s may-issue authority for concealed carry permits.
Click thru for all the details of what is basically a "pay-to-play" scheme. VIPs got permits. Regular folks, not so much. But the chances that California will fix this travesty are between slim and none.
If there was any Justice in the universe, she would have suffered some long-term consequence. Senator who championed Illinois criminal justice overhaul is carjacked at gunpoint; offenders fired shots at her husband - CWB Chicago
Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, who championed the state’s criminal justice reform omnibus legislation in January, was carjacked at gunpoint in suburban Broadview on Tuesday evening, authorities said. One of the hijackers fired multiple gunshots at Lightford’s husband, but he was not injured.
Three masked men exited a Dodge Durango and hijacked Lightford’s Mercedes Benz SUV at gunpoint on the 2000 block of South 20th Avenue around 9:45 p.m., according to a statement from the village’s chief of police.
She was "thankful" that she and her husband were unharmed.
Will she change her thoughts on Law and Order? I doubt it.
Western Civilization was nice while it lasted.
Home invaders are still getting shot. HPD: Homeowner fatally shoots man who tried to enter house
Did he think he was in New Jersey?
A homeowner in the Greater East End fatally shot a man early Saturday who tried to enter his home, police said.
When the homeowner first noticed a group of suspicious people, the first thing he did was retrieve a firearm. When he got back, the soon-to-be-dead-guy was already trying to break in.
Self-defense is a human-right, and this took place in Texas.
He apparently convinced a 16-year-old kid to go along with him, but that 16-year-old paid the price. Man arrested, teen accomplice killed in Fort Myers home invasion robbery - NBC2 News
The two miscreants - Richard Cochran, 38, and Robert Mosley, 16 - were acquainted with the homeowner, but the sheriff is not saying how, or if that lead to the invasion in some way.
On Sept. 20, the two suspects broke in to a home on Brandon Street through the home’s back door while armed with guns. Cochran held several people inside the home at gunpoint while Mosley searched the home.
Mosley came into contact with another resident while he was searching the home and shot them. Sheriff Carmine Marceno said the resident that was shot was a juvenile who did not die from their injuries.
After hearing the gunshot, the homeowner came out of his bedroom with a handgun and shot and killed Mosley.
At that point Cochran ran.
Normally I would expect the Left to be screeching about how Felony Murder is unfair. You shouldn't be held responsible for the completely foreseeable consequences of your actions. But that doesn't matter in this case, because it will not receive any national attention.
Self-defense is a human-right, and in general, Florida takes a dim view of home invaders.
It started out as a penal colony, and the leaders seem determined to turn it back into one. WATCH: Police FAIL to shut down NSW Freedom Ball - Rebel News
The mainstream press pitched it as some sort of conspiracy theory, far-right, anti-government, pro-Putin gathering, but in reality, it was a celebration of Australian liberty attended by prominent figures in the freedom movement.
New South Wales police, including a superintendent who refused to comment, descended on the original venue when they found out who would be attending the event. Police then put the owners under immense pressure to cancel – which they did.
The good news, if there is any, is that the police and the politicians have been so over the top in their zeal for destroying freedom, that a lot of people are waking up to the fact that they are out of control.
The Aussie Cossack put on a great show. The Freedom Ball quickly began what other conservative functions have been trying to do for a few years, but didn’t quite manage it – fun.
‘Fun’ is desperately needed after years of fighting against an unprecedented level of authoritarianism in Australia.
A Special Wednesday edition of Metal for Mondays, because Within Temptation is re-releasing their virtual-reality concert. As I type this their website has the following info on the main page.
Our show in a virtual reality [The Aftermath] will be available again from December 24 until December 31, 2021. Ticket holders can re-watch the show for free and new tickets are now on sale - so if you weren't been able to watch it in July: now is your chance!
Click here for more information about the show!
This song is "Forsaken (The Aftermath)" by Within Temptation. This version was released as a single on December 1st.
