30 April 2021

Political Update for Austin, Texas

I wanted to include this in the Saturday Roundup, but it really doesn't fit. Austin T Minus 2 Update � Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

Two days from now, Austin voters will go to the polls to decide the fate of reinstating the camping ban, along with a number of other proposals. (Cheat sheet: Vote for Proposition B and against everything else.) So here’s an update on Austin news in advance of the election.

Crime, restaurants abandoning downtown, homelessness, etc. All the things we've come to expect from a Leftist-dominated urban center. And Austin is nothing if not on the Left.

Here is one bit I liked...

Proposition E wants to move to ranked voting (which is illegal under Texas law anyway). Here’s why it’s a bad idea.

So even if it passes, it will be held illegal under Texas law. Who thinks this is a good idea? A Leftist, that's who.

It is fairly entertaining in places. And a bit sad in others. Click thru.

FBI: The Law Doesn't Apply to Us

Certainly not the Constitution. FBI sifted through troves of foreign communications for information on American WITHOUT a warrant� | Daily Mail Online

The FBI's requests for access to masses of electronic communications harvested by the National Security Agency (NSA) is revealed in a newly declassified report from the United States' secret surveillance court.

It shows the FBI has continued to perform warrantless searches through the NSA's most sensitive databases for routine criminal investigations, despite being told by a federal judge in 2018 and 2019 that such a use was an unconstitutional breach of privacy.

The Law? The Law doesn't apply to them. They are the FBI!

Friday Links

The Lid starts us off with a bit of truth about BLM's goals - Marxist BLM Co-Founder: ‘We Have To Move Towards Abolition’ Of Criminal Justice System

Victory Girls - Tim Scott Attacked By Racist Thought Mob Again

How do you know when racist, soulless droids have no rational argument against you? They send the Twitter Thought Mob out after you.

Bare Naked Islam - US Marine Corps officer warns Congress against forcing the military to classify Christians as “religious extremists” on par with al-Qaeda and the KKK

Bayou Renaissance Man - Inflation: Read the signs all around you, or risk being overwhelmed

We Are The Mighty - 6 military developments from WW1 that made warfare more deadly I know, it's a history lesson. You might learn something. (It will only hurt for a minute!)

Moonbattery - Human Reproduction as Environmental Vandalism

If you doubt that the ideology of the liberal establishment is antihuman, read the recent piece at Vogue titled “Is Having a Baby in 2021 Pure Environmental Vandalism?”

Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion - Alternate Juror in Derek Chauvin Trial: “I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again”

“… and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict,” Lisa Christensen said of her “mixed feelings” when filling out the juror questionnaire.

Granite Grok - Taxes Pay For Civilization? No, Bruce, They Don’t!

American Partisan - Breaking News: The Vaccine Is Now Mandatory

Adaptive Curmudgeon - War With Eastasia

Fuzzy Curmudgeon - Donks try to cancel the FCC

According to the Democrat Representatives, the FCC must block this change in ownership to prevent what they view as a progressive broadcast station from beginning to air conservative viewpoints to Miami’s Hispanic community.

Digenes' Middle Finger - Stupidity Has Become Very Lucrative. Target demographics of today's media is...

Ace of Spades HQ - James Carville: "Wokeness is a Problem and We All Know It"

The Other McCain - Andrew Brown Was a Career Criminal

Professor David Yamane at Gun Curious - Guns Don’t Kill People, Systemic Inequality Does

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - The Spring Break Book Post

Before I pitch into the book reviews, a couple of links of interest to folks interested in SF and/or popular culture.

Tuna at Chant du Départ - The Mob

We too are letting the mob into our lives, into big business, and into our culture. It's not the mafia, but mob mentality.

SiGraybeard - NASA's Getting What It Wanted - Independent, Reliable Access to Space

Again from The Other McCain - Media: The Enemy of the People

Even if someone is charging at you with a knife, cops can’t shoot them — that’s the madhouse toward which the media seek to lead us.

The Feral Irishman - Make no mistake about it, our "OVERLORDS" would use any assets in their arsenal to force their will upon us.

NYC Labor Calls For More Cops

But, but, but... Defund the police! Antifa will be very disappointed. Prominent NYC labor leaders call for more subway cops

In a letter to Mayor de Blasio issued Sunday, reps for hundreds of thousands of workers who rely on public transit to get to the kind of jobs that kept the city running through the pandemic — including grocery store employees, retail workers, city employees, and, of course, transit workers — called for an increased police presence in the transit system “at least in the short term.”

So the people who actually do work in the city, not just those who show up to burn shit during "protests," want more police, and order and safety. Antifa/BLM/whomever will be screaching in 3, 2,...

Subway crime rates dropped in March compared to the previous month, according to newly-released NYPD stats — but remain far higher than where they stood pre-pandemic.

I wondered how bad things would have to get before people started pushing back on the "Defund the police" insanity, I expected it to get much worse before they would risk being called racists or whatever. Not that the politicans will do anything right now. Antifa still has CNN/MSNBC/EIEIO in its pocket doing PR.

Cops Have STILL Not Figured Out That They Are on Camera

What will it take for them to get the message? Well these guys are going to get some kind of message. NJ cops charged with beating teen after incident caught on camera.

They drive up on a kid walking to his car. Speak for a few seconds and then start punching him. They conclude the night by writing a police report on the incident that is complete fiction. Which they never expected to get called to account on because they didn't realize that they were being recorded. (There is always a camera.)

The cops are charged with civil rights violations, obstruction of justice and filing a false police report. If convicted, they face 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Maybe they should put a sign up in the police station saying, "There is always a camera." They are at least guilty of felony stupidity for not realizing there is always a camera, but sadly I don't think they can be charged with that in New Jersey.

Here is a news video. Paterson Police Officers Accused Of Assaulting 19-Year-Old. The raw security video has been deemed " inappropriate or offensive to some audiences." So I can't embed it on this site. It has an annoying Chirstmas Carol droning in the background. (The incident took place on December 14th of last year.) The link is queued up to bypass the first 15 seconds, but YT apparently won't let me do that with the emedded video below.

How Out-of-Control Was Cuomo?

Very much out of control, it would seem. Albany puts end to 'Cuomo Chips' as it repeals gov order of food with booze sales

Oh, and there's another scandal - something about a book and use of public funds in its preparation... But the Left will ignore it.

Cuomo imposed the food-with-drinks executive order last summer, arguing that the requirement would help fend off rowdy drinking crowds that could lead to the spread of COVID-19.

Follow the science? What science? There is no science about ordering food. So, instead of ordering a beer, you order 3 beers and some chips, or group orders a pitcher (are they legal in NYC?) and some chips. And how does this impact COVID?

“The purchase of food with alcohol [is] arbitrary and not based on science,” state Sen. John Mannion (D-Syracuse) said during the chamber debate.

“I’ve yet to find any scientific literature that finds a correlation between ordering food with your drink, and stopping the spread of COVID-19.”

But then he was just living out a dictator's fantasy. He was making rules because he could make rules.

29 April 2021

Florida Woman Goes for a Drive

This apparently is the 2nd time she has killed someone while driving under the influence... But keeping dangerous people in jail would be unfair. Florida Woman Was in a Big Hurry to Reach Her Destination: Prison : The Other McCain

My guess is that even the liberal Democrat judges in Tampa won’t be so lenient with Carvajal this time. It’s easy to laugh at “Florida woman,” until she makes a right turn at 111 mph and kills somebody.

I'm not sure I believe that the judges won't let her off easy again.

Click thru for video, and I dropped one other piece of video in the comments, that gives a differnt view of the event.

Sgt. Chris Ward

End of Watch. 1 deputy killed, another injured in shooting during welfare check at North Carolina home - ABC News

One deputy was killed and another injured while performing a welfare check at a North Carolina home Wednesday, authorities said. [SNIP]

One of the officers, identified by authorities as Sgt. Chris Ward, died after being flown to Johnson City Medical Center.

A Failure of the Victim-selection Process

He thought breaking into an occupied home was a good idea. Myrtle Beach homeowner opens fire on burglary suspect, police say

A 15-year-old kid was trying to break in. The homeowner opened fire, but didn't hit anyone. The kid ran like a rabbit.

It doesn't say how cops knew who he is, or if the homeowner knew him from the neigborhood, though he was apparently captured on security video. Cops are still investigating.

Self-defense is a human-right.

How Is That Free-bail Working Out?

In Chicago they ask for a small payment. New York doesn't even ask for a token amount, they just turn people loose. Freed gang member goes on crime spree after injuring cop: sources

A reputed gang member who was freed without bail despite attempted-murder charges allegedly went on a crime spree that included dragging an NYPD officer with a car Friday — enraging the city’s top cop. [SNIP]

Newson, 32, allegedly ran amok for nearly 12 hours after cops approached him behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz with excessively tinted windows that was blocking traffic near Rockaway Parkway and Willmohr Street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn at around 3:30 a.m., sources said.

The judge, a rookie who the Bar Association rated poorly, put this guy back on the streets without any bail, because "supervised release" was the best option. For who, exactly?

At least he didn't kill anybody.

First he dragged a cop with a vehicle when they tried to stop him. The officer was treated for his injuries and released.

About 90 minutes later, Newson allegedly broke into a house nearly 15 miles away on Grassmere Terrace in Far Rockaway, where he smashed his way inside by breaking the lock on the door, sources said.

He terrorized the residents of the home a 66-year-old woman and her son, for some time. The woman had been trying to help Newson’s girlfriend and her mother.

He left and stole a Jaguar sedan and headed to Long Island.

He was arrested on Long Island. Maybe the judges in Suffolk County are more realistic.

(See, I can pick on New York as well as Chicago!)

Because keeping violent offenders in jail is unfair.

They Aren't Charging Him With a Hate Crime

Is this because no one heard him say anything? Ex-con Jarrod Powell arrested in attack on Asian man in NYC

The guy arrested in Jarrod Powell.

Cops on Tuesday arrested a 49-year-old ex-con who they say is the monster caught on video repeatedly kicking an Asian man in the head last week in East Harlem.

This guy is known to police. Is anyone shocked?

Powell — who has at least 33 prior run-ins with the law, the majority of which for assaults, dating back to 1988 — was arrested early Tuesday and charged with two counts of felony assault, cops said.

“He shouldn’t be out in these streets,” one police source said.

But keeping habitual, violent offenders in jail would be unfair.

Cops are not sure about the motivation for the attack. Or if they are sure, they don't believe that they can prove anything.

28 April 2021

Michael Collins: Pilot of the Apollo 11 Command Module

Michael Collins: Oct. 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021. He took the photo below at 21:34:00 UT or 5:34 PM EDT, 21 July 1969

Michael Collins, the astronaut who took this photo, is the only human, alive or dead that isn’t in the frame of this picture, 1969

Collins took this picture of the Lunar Module, containing Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong with Earth in the background, during the Apollo 11 mission. This makes him the only person ever to have lived who was not inside the frame of the photo. Matter cannot be created or destroyed. That means that every human that lived up to the point of this photo being taken still exists, at least in some form, and every human that has been born since then was also is in this photo, at least in some form. So even if you were born after this picture was taken, the materials you’re made from are still on the frame of this picture.

For the Large Scale version of the photo, click this link. And for all of the Apollo 11 photos, see this link at NASA.

Crime Surge is a Feature of the Democrats' Policies

It is not an unintended consequence. NYC councilman admits he's 'running out of reasons to tell people to stay' amid crime surge

“The rise in crime is not really a bug in this system; it’s a feature. For eighteen months, New York’s woke Democrats have systematically eroded criminal justice and empowered criminals,” [New York City Council member Joe Borelli, a Republican,] told host Tucker Carlson.

Who even knew that there were any Republicans left in NYC?

“There was bail reform, it was defunding the police, it was ending qualified immunity. It was criminalizing police actions. So it’s tough to imagine any other outcome that they could possibly have foresaw other than a spike in crime,” he added. [emphasis in original]

He goes on to discuss the increases in crime: the 130% increase in shootings in June of last year over the prior year, the increase in murders and the rise in sexual assault, etc.

What’s notable is that you rarely hear Democrat politicians, mainstream media “journalists,” sports stars and Hollywood actors and actresses complain about these increased murders and sexual assaults. There’s a political reason for this, according to Borelli.

“You don’t hear about it, and you won’t, because the solution to this is proactive policing. It’s a type of policing that most of the celebrities, most reform activists, and people on the street protesting around New York City, it’s that type of policing which they specifically do not want,” he said.

Now you would have to be living under a rock not to have seen things about the Ma'Khia Bryant Shooting. But what you may not have seen is the Bree Newsome take on the issue. BLM co-founder ‘frightened’ cop stopped stabbing: ‘Teens have been having fights involving knives for eons’

And according to Ms. Newsome you should just let them stab one another.

The media and activists immediately started claiming that Bryant was unarmed and just an innocent, sweet girl. But the video shows exactly what she was doing. Newsome unbelievably seized on the tragic incident to posit that teenage knife fights were normal and that the police had no business interfering.

But then chaos and violence normalized is exactly the goal of BLM and Antifa and all the eliminate police activists want.

Regarding crime in the Democrat “utopia” of New York City, this week alone a corpse was found stuffed in a bag in Manhattan, a woman was executed in broad daylight in Brooklyn and a career criminal who’d been released without bail earlier this month on an attempted murder charge was re-arrested for dragging an NYPD officer with his vehicle.

Dangerous suspects being released without bail and then going on to commit additional crimes has become the norm in NYC thanks specifically to the “woke” Democrats mentioned by Borelli.

‘You can’t stop me!’ Bragging NYC subway thief, with 138 arrests, thanks Dems for new bail reform law https://t.co/zYWlcIkWDz
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) February 17, 2020

I suppose that the Dems think if they tear it all down, they can rebuild it how they see fit. I doubt it will work that way. I am reminded, as I always am, about Hobbes' description of the state of war, which exists in the breakdown of law and order.

no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society, and, which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

I think that could describe the state of some of our large cities.

How's That Affordable Bail Working Out?

In Chicago not too well. CWB Chicago is keeping a count of the victims. #18: Man charged murder of 7-year-old at McDonald's drive-thru has 2 pending felony cases, prosecutors say | CWB Chicago

Because keeping violent and repeat offenders in jail is unfair. Or something.

Prosecutors on Sunday charged a suburban man in connection with the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams at a West Side McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant and trying to carjack a family from Las Vegas on the Eisenhower Expressway.

Marion Lewis had two felony juvenile cases pending — one for burglary and looting, the other for possessing a stolen motor vehicle — when he participated in the murder and other crimes this month, prosecutors said.

Wednesday Link Roundup

Pirate's Cove starts us off today with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

  1. Pacific Pundit notes how many cops are leaving the NYPD
  2. Patterico’s Pontifications discusses the Washington Post’s shooting of unarmed black men

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkage

Bustednuckles: Rain Delay
Woodsterman: Happiest of Funday in the Morning
Victory Girls: Media Plays Games With Body Cam Video

Daley Gator - Your CCW News Update For Tuesday (04/27/21)

An angry pastor posted a video Saturday calling local police the “Gestapo” and “Nazis,” after they presented him with a court order related to investigations that his church is violating COVID-19 safety protocols.

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 04.27.21

Shark Tank: FL Redistricting Will Help GOP, But Not Much
Shot In The Dark: Pondering, also, A Little Concerning
STUMP: Weekend Videos

Political Hat - News of the Week (April 25th, 2021)

The New and Improved Green New Deal Is Still Insane
Senator Ed Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “formally” reintroduced the Green New Deal today.

EBL - Mad Max (1979)

American Elephants: Did you have a happy Earth Day?
Diogenes Middle Finger News: A Good Monday Morning

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 5: The New York Post reported, "A group of 22 members of Congress is demanding President Biden’s nominee for head of the ATF commit to investigating allegations that Hunter Biden lied on a background check to buy a gun.

A View from the Beach - Election 2020: They're Making a List, and Checking it Twice

John Solomon at JTN reports Growing number of black leaders embrace voter ID, reject Biden's Jim Crow claims, "From sports to politics to business, black leaders are beginning a counteroffensive against Stacey Abrams' views on voting".

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 04.27.21 (Evening Edition)

Victory Girls: John Kerry – Once A Traitor, Always A Traitor
Volokh Conspiracy: “The Common Objects Of Their Love”
Weasel Zippers: CDC Says Fully Vaccinated People Don’t Need Masks Outside

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 4/26/2021

UK: ‘White Saviour’ Isaac Newton Benefited From ‘Colonial-Era Activity’, Claims University: Report
The grandfather of modern physics, Sir Isaac Newton, has become the latest target of the woke mob in the push to “decolonise the curriculum”

Vlad Tepes - Police targeted for attacks in NY, UN elects Iran to Women’s commission: Links 2, April 27, 2021

4. Comparing Ontario with Florida:
Ontarians are now political prisoners...
5. ‘It feels like a sick joke’: UN elects Iran to women’s commission

Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 4/27/21 [J.J. Sefton]

"Hollywood is a political business that can use Georgian money back to fund leftist endeavors, warns Professor J.C. Bradbury."
How Hollywood Uses State Tax Credits to Profit Off of the People it Hates

Doug Ross is having some issues with Google... - Here are the Linx Google Removed...

Sen. Manchin Backs ‘Targeted’ Infrastructure Bill, Opposes Reconciliation: Jack Phillips
Why Californians Are Losing Hope in the States Political Party Structure: Anne Dunsmore

Maggie's Farm - Monday morning links

Rutgers students provided with 'trigger' warnings in Classics and history courses. A Rutgers professor is using trigger warnings for his courses involving uncomfortable realities of Greek and Roman history.

I leave you with The Geek in Pictures: No Country for Young Leftists Edition from Power Line, Sunday Funnies, 04-25-21 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday gifdump from Knuckledraggin My Life Away, and Sunday Memes … from Freedom Is Just Another Word…

The Destruction of Justice in America

This post was originally going to be titled "Kim Foxx and the Destruction of Justice in Chicago," but while the video and the article deal with Chicago, the George-Soros-funded PAC that helped her get elected is bringing similar "prosecutors" (in quotes because they won't prosecute) to big cities all over America. As someone has pointed out somewhere in the past week or so, Democrats have decided that violence in the streets is beneficial to their cause.

The destruction of the Criminal Justice System in Chicago continues. Rising crime and murderers walking free: 'Tucker Carlson Originals' analyzes the crisis in the Windy City

'This isn't random violence, it's the consequence of bad policy,' says host Tucker Carlson

Kim Foxx was backed in her election by a George-Soros-funded PAC. The chaos running wild in Chicago is the direct result of her policies. Well, and others' policies as well.

The episode shows gut-wrenching footage of violence and murder, with the families of victems explaining how Foxx chose not to prosecute the perpetrators, letting murderers walk free.

This is the video for episode 1 of Tucker Carlson Originals, "Chicago in Crisis." The video is 23 minutes, so plan accordingly. I think it is worth it. A brief 1 minute and 30 second portion of the video is at this link.

Hat tip to Chicago Contrarian: Kim Foxx's Chicago Exposed.

Across twenty-three minutes, Carlson takes viewers on a guided tour of Chicago and forthrightly tells the story of the unraveling of law and order in Chicago under Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. A chronicle Chicago’s media has ignored for five years, through interviews with Preib, 15th Ward alderman Ray Lopez, an anonymous Chicago police officer serving with a Gang Unit, David Applegate, Anjanette Albert and Omar Tungekar, both of whom are the family of victims of murder, it is difficult not to come to the conclusion Kim Foxx is a proud apologist for the worst criminal offenders.

NYC Mother Murders Her 6-week-old Twins

She didn't want them anymore, and of course what she wants outweighs everything. NYC mother charged with murder in the brutal deaths of her 6-week-old twins | Daily Mail Online

A Queens mother has been charged with two counts of murder for the brutal deaths of her two six-week-old twins, whose bodies were found stabbed to death in her apartment Thursday - one with a knife sticking out of his head.

While New York does have a Safe Haven law, the cutoff date for abandoning an infant is 30 days, not 6 weeks.

I can't help but think that if there was any support - dare I say it - from a church - homes could have been found for these 2. But religion is old-fashioned. And don't even suggest that her life might be better if the father of her children were involved in her life, and theirs; that is just a 19th Century idea. This is the 21st Century, where feelings account for everything. There is no greater purpose than what you want, how you feel, etc. And so she wanted 2 infants to stop being a bother.

'I do not want them,' she reportedly told arriving officers, according to the New York Daily News.

'I can't take it anymore,' she told police, according to the Post.

Welcome to the future.

Waba Duba

Yello came up in the comments on a post recently And since I have always liked their music I thought I would revisit their newest album.

Most people only know Yello from the use of "Oh Yeah" in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and in a dozen other places after that, but Dieter Meier and Boris Blank, the two guys in Yello, were known in the club scene before that.

You can find the lyrics to today's song at this link, though I am not sure you need them.

This song is "Waba Duba" by Yello from their 2020 album Point. I can't decide if the video is annoying or clever, though I suppose it is fairly typical for a video from Yello. The song was released as a single ahead of the album. (I think.)

Drunk Democrat: Rules Don't Apply to Me

Is anyone surprised? Drunk Michigan Democrat Invoked Whitmer’s Name During DUI Bust

He drove his car into the ditch. His pants were "partially off." His blood alcohol was twice the legal limit. He said he wanted to call the Michigan governor to intervene, presumably because he thought she would say that the rules don't apply to him. And he did it all on vide.

Get drunk. Drive your car into a ditch. Without pants. That’s basically the Democratic Party platform, right there. And I repeat: It’s on video.

That's quote of the day material.

Click thru for the details and the video.

27 April 2021

An Adaptive Curmudgeon Musical Interlude

AC also has a link to great piece of commedy. Rush, Canadian Libertarian Birth Control

From the commedy...

No one has ever gotten pregnant while listening to the music of Rush. Clinical studies show that when combined with watching a male sexual partner play air bass along to the extended solo in “Freewill,” the contraceptive efficacy of Rush approaches 100%.

From AC

I’m linking to YYZ, an instrumental that spares the novice a headlong plunge of Lee’s singing. Note that it starts with the IATA airport identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Yes, they heard morse code on a VHF aviation radio and said “fuck it… lets turn this into something that’s neither rock nor jazz”. Then Neil Pert set out to destroy his cymbals and the other two somehow managed to keep up.

Click thru for "YYZ" by Rush from the 1981 album Moving Pictures.

What Can You Shoplift from Home Depot That Is Worth Your Life?

Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes. Bodycam video shows cop getting shot by man suspected of having just seriously wounded Brighton Park guard at Home Depot - Chicago Sun-Times

I know that most criminals are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but this is insane. The most expensive stuff at Home Depot you need a cart to haul away.

A security guard at Home Depot confronted 18-year-old Travon Chadwell about shoplifting. He shot the security guard in the head, and ran.

Two officers arrive and begin a pursuit of him into an alley.

One of them chases the suspect into an alley. As the officer turns the corner of a garage, he sees the suspect standing in the middle of the alley.

“What’s up, man?” the officer says.

In seconds, a single gunshot is heard as the officer starts to turn and duck back into the gangway. He falls to the ground and shouts, “I’m shot, I’m shot, I’m shot.”

He put two people in the hospital over something at a Big Box store that probably cost much less than $100. Then, while surrounded by Chicago cops, after having just shot one of them, he doesn't even try to surrender.

The Left would surely be screaming about Chadwell's death, except for the fact that they are still screaming about Adam Toledo, who was also shot in Little Village. That is the same neighborhood where this shooting took place.

Here is the video: "Bodycam footage shows Chicago cop get shot minutes before suspect dies in shootout with police." It includes some bodycam video, some security video and at least one bit recorded on a bystander's smartphone.

Black Coed Accused of White Supremacy

Now that is what you call ironic. This sorority accused a sister of racism after she anonymously criticized its woke agenda. Then they learned she’s not white.

What's the opposite of diversity? University.

So it is a sorority on the Wesleyan University campus. So slightly to the Left of Lenin as a jumping off point. But they had to buff up their diversity creds so, they appointed a diversity chair and set about to promote social activism. Criticism was NOT allowed.

Though eventually they did have an anonymous feedback form. They didn't like what they found.

Despite the anonymity of their critic, leadership harshly denounced her as a racist, demanding that she immediately come forward and leave the sorority.

Here, it is evident that those who condemned this individual immediately concluded that she was a white racist as her feedback did not fall in line with the politically correct consensus on racial discourse. However, much to the dismay of the sorority, the author of the form is, in fact, a woman of color.

Diversity: only as long as you think the thoughts we tell you to think.

And she did leave the sorority because they made her feel unsafe. (That is the magic word today...)

The fallout has been poetic justice, a kind of justice you don't see much today. When she left the sorority, she produced statement about how the diversity chair made people feel unsafe to even ask questions, such as "What is politically correct?" Only one other person has asked to leave the sorority, but opinion of the sorority is tanking.

She expressed vindication for her initial response contending Rho Epsilon was not acting to dismantle biases, but rather acting in a “performative and hyper-polarized manner” that was a result of cynical posturing and “closed-minded” judgement as opposed to genuine concern.

The "leadership" hasn't been able to explain what went wrong with their diversity efforts, and how those efforts ended with asking a "woman of color" to leave the organization. Which from my point of view is a delicious bit of schadenfreude.

Another Failure of the Victim-selection Process

Also, why didn't he stop after he had been shot once? Police: 19-year-old killed in self-defense shooting in Rock Hill

The 19-year-old started strangling a man, and was then shot by another person. The 19-year-old then started to strangle a woman before he was shot again. Police said he stopped the assault and collapsed.

He could have stopped after the first shot and been taken to a hospital. Why didn't he?

The shooting was deemed to be in defense of self and others, and the shooter will face no charges.

Self-defense is a human-right.

The System™ On Which We Are Supposed to Rely - UK Edition

Rely for our safety, that is.

Conditions are even worse in the UK, because you are not allowed to defend yourself. You are certainly not allowed to own anything that might enable self-defense. And The System™ will not protect you. How could lover who held me hostage soon be free to live in my village? | Daily Mail Online

This is a fairly typical story of domestic violence. It starts out good. Then it isn't good. Then it is bad. Then she leaves. He doesn't react well.

Gareth, however, refused to accept it was over and began a campaign of stalking.

He’d watch me from the road or lie in wait for me at the farmhouse. When I finally summoned the courage to call the police, he was arrested for harassment and menacing behaviour.

In fact, over a three-week period, he was arrested twice more, but devastatingly the CPS decided no further action should be taken, and his campaign continued.

So for menacing and harassment he was jailed for much less than 3 weeks. Are we surprised? Then things got bad.

Oh, and he was threatening her childern during this time, but police couldn't be bothered to follow up.

He showed up with a gun - in gun-free UK? Color me shocked! - and held her hostage, threatened to kill her, to kill himself. Eventually he drove her to a doctor's appointment that she had scheduled.

He followed me to the surgery —but finally, alone in the GP’s room, I could tell someone what was happening. The police were called, the surgery was locked down and Gareth was arrested as he waited for me in the car park.

So for kidnapping and threatening, and having a gun in gun-free Britain, (no longer Great Britain) and the existence of security camera video to prove he was lying about some stuff, he was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison with 25 percent reduction for his guilty plea. Oh they sentenced hin to 20 years, but a bunch of the time is concurrent.

Gareth has since been jailed for a total of 20 years on five different charges including making threats to kill and false imprisonment.

But with concurrent sentencing and a 25 per cent reduction owing to his guilty plea, he is serving four and a half in prison and five on licence.

Recently, I learned that he had been transferred back to prison from the medium-secure psychiatric unit where he was being held. That means he could be considered for parole as early as August 2022.

And so he will be free to restart his campaign of terror. Do you think he learned a lesson? Do you think 3 years is long enough for all of this? All of this took place in August of 2019.

This the future that the gun-hating Left want to import into the US. Where the small are at the mercy of the large. Where the old and the infirm are at the mercy of the young and the violent. Because self-defense is icky, or something, and you should just rely on "The System," the very same system that the Left wants to defund.

"Crime Is Down" Has Been a Mantra in Chicago

The politicians and the CPD brass claim it is down, even if it isn't. But the latest stats will be hard to explain away. A year after boasting of sharp crime reductions during COVID lockdown, CPD faces reality | CWB Chicago

So last year they could claim "Crime is Down!" with a straight face, because it was. Was it because of anything the police or politicians were doing?

The department seemed to take full credit for the crime reduction in its statement, giving no indication that crime reports might have been down due to unprecedented restrictions on day-to-day life.

But that didn't last forever.

Between March 20 and April 13 this year, murders are up 26%, shooting cases are up 38%, criminal sexual assaults are up 47%, carjackings are up 52%, and motor vehicle theft is up 24% compared to the same days in 2020, city data shows.

There are data for several sections of chicago that are seeing particularly nasty increases. And then there is the fact that the numbers are higher than they were in 2019.

And the data shows violent crime categories like murder, shootings, and carjackings are up in recent weeks even compared to the same time in pre-COVID 2019. That won’t be easy to explain away, either.

I predict that they will just ignore the statistics and concentrate on the crisis de jour.

As for the Crime is Down mantra, that dates to 2014, when CPD got caught cooking the books to make themselves look better. From Chicago Magazine - The Truth About Chicago’s Crime Rates: The city’s drop in crime has been nothing short of miraculous. Here’s what’s behind the unbelievable numbers.

Chicago conducted a 12-month examination of the Chicago Police Department’s crime statistics going back several years, poring through public and internal police records and interviewing crime victims, criminologists, and police sources of various ranks. We identified 10 people, including Groves, who were beaten, burned, suffocated, or shot to death in 2013 and whose cases were reclassified as death investigations, downgraded to more minor crimes, or even closed as noncriminal incidents—all for illogical or, at best, unclear reasons.

This troubling practice goes far beyond murders, documents and interviews reveal. Chicago found dozens of other crimes, including serious felonies such as robberies, burglaries, and assaults, that were misclassified, downgraded to wrist-slap offenses, or made to vanish altogether.

Because nothing says, "Making the city safe!" like lying through your teeth about safety. It's part of the Chicago Way.

26 April 2021

Holiday

Today we have a song that was inspired by Lone Star Parson. He had a musical interlude, "Monday Night Juke Box," a while back and this was one of the songs featured.

The Scorpions was never a band I listened to much. A few of their songs were on the radio, such as "Rock You Like a Hurricane," but in 1979, I was not listening to Hard Rock much.

I'm going to call today's song a Power Ballad, because the first 2/3rds of the song is exactly that, though it picks up at the end. I quite like it.

This song is "Holiday" by the Scorpions from their 1979 album Lovedrive.

The Oscars: Not Woke Enough to Deal with Homeless

I'm shocked that the woke actors didn't want to see the results of their woke policies. Los Angeles Hypocrites Remove Homeless Camp and Erect Fence to Protect the Stars at Oscars

The perimeter around Union Station is cordoned off by security fences and the entrances to the building are blocked to prevent the wrong element from gaining access.

Too Little, Too Late - Portland Mayor Wants Order

The Mayor is not in control of Portland. He hasn't been for a while, actually. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler declares WAR on Antifa, tells public to dox people dressed in all black | The Post Millennial

(Ted Wheeler advocating for law and order is so ridiculous it made Data laugh.)

Antifa made the Portland Mayor flee his home and they sucker punched him in the face. But in response he did nothing.

Even in the final days of the Trump administration, Ted Wheeler was an indirect Antifa advocate. He was publicly offended at comparisons being drawn between the Far Left group and the January 6th Capitol Riots. Last year after the death of George Floyd, Antifa spent the summer sieging the Portland courthouse.

He thought he was "using" Antifa to make digs at Trump. He was mistaken. Now he is trying to reassert order. Good luck with that.

In the last week alone, Antifa burned an Apple Store to the ground.

Not Woke Apple! Say it ain't so. He would need to wage war to reassert order, and he is not really willing to reassert the rule of law.

Twitter, which is mostly on the Left these days, due to the purge of conservative voices, is losing its collective mind. "Ted Wheeler is a Fascist!" Which implies that they think the chaos is fine, and should continue. They probably also think it should spread to where you live.

Self-defense Is Legal in Indiana

It started when he "got drunk and punched his son." Alcohol can be hazardous to your health. Prosecutors call fatal New Albany shooting a case of self-defense; no charges to be filed

He also began arguing with the woman, whom WDRB is identifying only as Robertson's domestic partner.

When the argument moved outside the home, Lane said Robertson began biting the woman several times on the cheek.

Robertson was armed with a gun, according to Lane. He said the woman was able to get the gun and fired it four times. He was hit three times, according to prosecutors, and died from his injuries.

The prosecutor goes on to say that "this is the worst possible outcome." I beg to differ. The worst outcome would be if he shot and killed his son, and he shot and killed his "domestic partner," and then he was left to rot in prison for decades.

As it stands the bad-guy suffered the worst fate, and everyone else is on the mend.

Still, this incident happend on Sunday, April 18th (they do say April 19th in the caption to one photo, but I think that is when the photo was taken), and this determination was made on Friday April 23rd. Less that a week is moving at warp speed for the American Criminal Justice System.

My take on the situation is: Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0, and self-defense is a human-right.

The Rules Are Different in Georgia

High speed chases do not happen very often in Chicago. Good thing they weren't in Chicago. 4 men from Chicago lead Georgia deputies on high-speed chase

They were stopped in a parking lot. They decided that running was a good idea. Not too surprising because Chicago police have to get a supervisor's permision to start a vehicle chase. And so people flee, because they know it will take some time to get that permission. The result is that they just let the bad guys go. But in Forsyth County, Georgia, it is a different story.

They didn't want to get stopped because they had stuff that they weren't supposed to have. In particular felons in possesion of firearms.

A search of the car reveals two pistols, a high-capacity drum magazine, marijuana, and multiple ski masks.

Deputies said the driver, identified by police as Qushawn Hawkins, and one passenger have an extensive criminal record including multiple felony convictions for violent crimes in Illinois.

Four guys from Chicago wouldn't need ski masks in Georgia in January, and certainly not in April. Not to stay warm, anyway.

Three of the four were arrested. You can find the details at the article above. The fourth was let go.

This is the video of the pursuit: Police Chase Felons Up To No Good - Forsyth County Sheriff's Office GA April 12th 2021. It is relatively short for a police chase video, only about 6 minutes or so.

If one or more of these people had been shot by the police, while they were trying to get away, I suppose that would kick-off the next set of riots.

Welcome to the Soviet Union of America

Who knew that this kind of thing fell under Postal Fraud? The Postal Service is running a running a 'covert operations program' that monitors Americans' social media posts

Every part of the government will be pressed into controlling your every move.

“This seems a little bizarre,” agreed Rachel Levinson-Waldman, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty and national security program. “Based on the very minimal information that’s available online, it appears that [iCOP] is meant to root out misuse of the postal system by online actors, which doesn’t seem to encompass what’s going on here. It’s not at all clear why their mandate would include monitoring of social media that’s unrelated to use of the postal system.”

The idea that there are any restrictions on government or .gov bureaucracies is such a 19th Century idea. (Hat tip to Don Surber.)

I Guess The Oscars Were On Last Night...

This completely sums up my feeling on that subject.

No One Cares

25 April 2021

Chicago Police Body Cam Video of Adam Toledo Shooting

I will just point out one thing highlighted by Dachief. Between the time you can clearly see the gun in his hand, and he turns to face the cop, who shoots once , there are 838 milliseconds or 838/1000 seconds or 0.838 seconds. Not that this fact will impact anything.

The bodycam video does show Adam Toledo getting shot.

This video is "Chicago Police Body Cam Video Breakdown by Dachief".

The French Role in the Rwanda Genocide

Not that the French want to admit it. A New Report Puts France at the Center of the Rwanda Genocide | The National Interest

There is a peculiar tendency among many progressives and internationalists to blame the United States as responsible for human rights abuses globally. This trend is particularly acute among European intellectuals who criticize the United States for unilateralism, militarism, and disrespect for international institutions.

The irony, however, is they often bare more culpability than Washington.

There are a few examples of various European Counties and their support of dictators, before the article settles on France and Rwanda.

For a review, 1 million Tutsis were executed in the course of 100 days in 1994 by the Hutu government between April 7th and July 15th. Though certain sources will quote a much lower number.

A new report, published April 19th, shines a light on the role of the French in Rwanda.

That the French government continues to withhold key documents further suggests that the French presidency and the Quay d’Orsay remained engaged in a cover-up of the extent of the French role in the anti-Tutsi genocide. Such documents include the French role in establishing the television stations that incited genocide against the Tutsi, French training of the extremist Hutu militias that engaged in genocide against the Tutsis, and the French presence at checkpoints manned by groups implicated in genocide. [SNIP]

In addition, Muse funds that more than 100 Rwandans complicit in the anti-Tutsi genocide live openly in France, with French judges often considering testimony and evidence provided by their victims for more than 20 years.

The Muse report is 600 pages. I don't think I will try to wade through that anytime soon. But you can find more information at The National Interest article linked at the top.

Someday Companies Will Take Security Seriously

But today is not that day. Geico data breach exposed customers' driver's license numbers

Driver's license numbers can be used in a lot of ways. In this case Geico thinks the bad guys will apply for unemployment benefits in the names of people who had their data stolen. That is something like 17 million people, or more. They insure 28 million vehicles.

So why do I say they were not taking security seriously?

Once they learned of the abuse, Geico says they secured the website and added additional safeguards to prevent further fraud or illegal activities.

Why were those "additional safeguards" not in place to begin with? Because you IT folks always want to spend money on something, and besides, what's the worst that could happen?

F*c*book: All That Data Is No Big Deal

Because they screwed up in 2019, and they want you to just forget about it, and let them continue to sell your activity and interests to everyone.Facebook leaks strategy to numb reaction to data scraping incidents

Facebook’s long-term strategy is to desensitize users about leaked data dumps that were collected through scraping the public portion of the social network.

The plan was revealed after the company leaked to journalists internal communication intended for Facebook’s public relations staff in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

This data can be used in phishing attacks, SIM swapping, where the bad-guys steal your phone numebr away from you - getting access to a bunch of 2 factor authentication pathways - and more.

Shannon Morse has a video on the topic over at ThreatWire. The F*c*book issue is up first, followed by a similar problem at LinkedIn, and then problems in collaboration softare, Slack and DIscord.

24 April 2021

Florida Man Visits the Airport

At least for today, this is Peak Florida. Florida Man In Hospital Gown Jumps Fence At Airport

Florida man is a magnificent example of a wild animal that will never be tamed. Today’s example broke out the back window of an ambulance, climbed out and ran toward a fence that surrounds the Miami airport. After scaling the fence, the man ran across the tarmac, butt-flashing the crowd. He was soon apprehended by law enforcement and arrested.

The original story is from a few days back.

Must be something in the water.

He Didn't Listen to "Put Your Hands Up"

When two cops have guns pointed at your head, and they are telling you to put your hands up, a reasonable person might comply, even if you think they are in the wrong.

This guy wasn't reasonable. Omaha police release videos from Kenneth Jones shooting.

The Omaha Police Department on Friday released the main portions of the two officer body camera videos and cruiser camera video from the Nov. 19 fatal shooting of Kenneth Jones.

Even in the face of all of the video, an "advocate" trying to have the video released, didn't think he should have been shot.

Let's review:

  1. He was high on PCP
  2. He was not complying with the "show us your hands" commands
  3. He had a loaded .45 caliber weapon
  4. He was a felon in possession of a firearm
  5. He was trying to draw that weapon on police

At what point do you think he should have been shot? After one of the officers was wounded?

Robert Stacy McCain - The Other McCain - also had a few thoughts on this incident. Video: A Death in Omaha

If cops were prohibited from using their guns, there would be no real law enforcement, and criminals would be able to perpetrate felonies with impunity.

This is the future anarchy toward which anti-cop rhetoric is leading us. America will become a society in which criminals have no fear of police, in which no one will be safe from violent predators.

This video is "Bodycam Footage of Kenneth Jones Shooting by Omaha Police in Nebraska"

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 04.22.21 (Afternoon Edition)

Behind The Black: Today’s Blacklisted American, also, The Anti-Sat Missile The USSR Designed For The Salyut Station
Cafe Hayek: The Tyranny Of Tiny Risks

Flopping Aces - The Week in Radical Leftism, 4/23/2021

4/17 – Army’s New Solar Farm
Somebody did the math, and you can guess what it found

Daley Gator - Your CCW News Update For Thursday (04/22/21)

At least two groups of China-linked hackers have spent months using a previously undisclosed vulnerability in American virtual private networking devices to spy on the U.S. defense industry

The Right Way - Top of the News

The inevitable consequence of the Ivy Leagues’ racist admission standards - Bookworm Room
Border Patrol Intercepts Previously Deported Rapists, Gang Members Breaching US Border - 90 Miles From Tyranny

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 04.22.21 (Evening Edition)

The Political Hat: Cannon Fodder For Social Justice
This Ain’t Hell: 82nd Airborne Soldier Dies In Training Accident, also, AF MGEN’s Sexual Assault Case Moving To Court-Martial

EBL - Joni Mitchell: Big Yellow Taxi

TOM: Nika Holbert, the ‘Drug War’ and the Importance of Penalizing Stupidity, There’s Always a Backstory: Why Was Ma’khia Bryant Living in a Foster Home?, In The Mailbox: 04.20.21

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 4/22/2021

Black Lives Matter UK has warned that the Minneapolis Police Department “would not have survived” if former police officer Derek Chauvin had not been convicted for the murder of George Floyd in the United States.

A View from the Beach - Election 2020: The Truth? You Can't Handle the Truth!

Daniel Greenfield at Front Page, The D.C. BLM Insurrectionists Get a Pass "It’s okay to riot in D.C., and assault government buildings and police officers again." Da Caller, After Chauvin Verdict, Capitol Police Suddenly Reverse Plan To Fortify Capitol.

Vlad Tepes - Five more Covid related items. Bill Mahar is interesting: Links 2, April 22, 2021

2. Bill Mahar gets a lot right mixed in with his lots wrong. We can each decide for ourselves which is which. He did have the courage to point out that after Texas opened up, the case rate and hospitalizations went down. That’s why its being posted.

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 04.23.21

The Geller Report: French Policewoman Stabbed To Death By Muslim Screaming “Allahu Akbar”, also, “Cancel Rent” Champion Ayanna Pressley Raked In Thousands As Landlord
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post Of The Day, Profitable LARPing?

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 1: Newt Gingrich said, "Republicans have to learn to win the argument about who's the real racist. The real racists are people like Biden and Harris."

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Lunatic Democrats Invent the Nuclear Self-Decapitation Attack

Go Green, Go Nuclear: John Stossel
Sen. Manchin: Compare 667 coal plants being built around world to zero in U.S.: JTN
Oh yay! Get ready for your kindergartener to learn about the "Pyramid of Hate!": NTB

Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 4/22/21 [J.J. Sefton]

"Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) tried to accuse Republicans of only supporting the police when it is politically convenient."
Jim Jordan: Republicans Consistently Condemn Violence While Democrats Pay Bail for Rioters

Maggie's Farm - Thursday morning links

After the Floyd verdict: the US is not a racist dystopia. George Floyd’s killing united America in outrage. But some want to use it to keep us permanently divided.
Portland Rioters Smash Windows at Starbucks, Attack Police Officer

I leave you with Thursday gifdump Part I from Knuckledraggin My Life Away, Libturd Thursday in the Morning from Woodsterman, Thursday Memes … from Freedom Is Just Another Word… and Cartoon Round Up.... from Theo Spark.

A Word From Second City Cop

Big tech, media and few others - it isn't clear - forced SCC off the web by threatening their annoymity. They were making the Democrats look bad. Well no, the Democrats were doing that on their own, but SCC was shining a light on it. Second City Cop Addresses Chicago | Chicago Contrarian

There are choices words for a number of the powerful in Chicago, but I will only hightlight the dig at Crimesha, that would be Illinois State's Attorney Kim Foxx, and her bumbling band of lawyers. (Don't call them prosecutors! They don't prosecute!)

Crimesha has relegated her entire office to being a criminal’s BFF. If you follow the CWB blog (still a daily read for us) a number of articles aren’t just about criminals out on “affordable bails” that are shooting and killing rivals along with a few innocent bystanders – it's about rapists who should be on electronic monitoring not even showing up to be lo-jacked, and then going out and raping again. Personally, there ought to be a bracelet of C-4 wrapped around their waist and detonated if they so much as approach a woman, but Crimesha seems happy to have them just out raping again.

There is more about that once-great-city, which is seeing a resurgance of crime not seen in years, mostly because of the policies of the Democrats in charge. (It has not quite been 100 years since there was a Republican mayor of Chicago. Not quite.)

Hat tip to HeyJackass!

Is Climate Science Going to Stop Lying?

I don't think they can. Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading: Stop using the worst-case scenario for climate warming as the most likely outcome — more-realistic baselines make for better policy.

But climate science is more about scaring the public into handing over freedoms, than anything else.

The two scenarios are RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, the latter being the one that the media and The Left (but I repeat myself) have mostly fixated on.

Emission pathways to get to RCP8.5 generally require an unprecedented fivefold increase in coal use by the end of the century, an amount larger than some estimates of recoverable coal reserves6. It is thought that global coal use peaked in 2013, and although increases are still possible, many energy forecasts expect it to flatline over the next few decades7. Furthermore, the falling cost of clean energy sources is a trend that is unlikely to reverse, even in the absence of new climate policies

But "new climate policies" can curtail all kinds of freedom. Movement. What you eat. Where you live. Anything to avoid destruction. Hat tip to Watts Up With That?

Locomotive Breath

I'm not sure why I have shifted gears to revisit some classic Progressive Rock. But that is the joy of having such varied musical tastes, and access to the music streaming services. So that is what we have today.

I always liked this song, though I don't remember when I first heard it. It didn't reach the Top 40, so I doubt I heard it on the radio, and it isn't the kind of music people around me were listening to in 1971. The first album that I know I heard by Jethro Tull was Warchild, from 1974, but then that album did spawn a Top 40 hit. It may not have been until college when I heard the album that spawned today's song.

This song is "Locomotive Breath" by Jethro Tull from the 1971 album Aqualung, though this is the 2001 remaster.

23 April 2021

13-year-old Ohio Girl Stabbed to Death - No Police Intervention

Are we supposed to believe that this outcome is better than what happened in Columbus? Friends, family gather to remember 13-year-old stabbed to death in Winton Hills. Nyaira Givens was her name.

Winton Hills is a neighborhood in Cincinnati.

Police believe a 13-year-old girl, whom Nyaira knew, stabbed her. She died in Jackson's arms as the family waited for help to arrive. During the vigil, Jackson held a picture of Nyaira in his arms.

In the insane moment of the day, Bree Newsome, prominent BLM activist, said that cops should just let the knife fights play out. She said that on Twitter and when the blow-back got intense she made her account private (or protected in Twtter-speak). BLM activist says police shouldn't use a weapon to stop someone from getting stabbed

Bree Newsome said that "Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations."

I wonder if Ms. Newsome would like to talk to the parents of the 13-year-old who was stabbed to death. I'm sure she can convince them it is for the best.

Her take was that anyone who calls police to the scene of a knife fight is the one that needs help, and she means that "sincerely." For Newsome, police being called to a knife fight is nothing but white supremacy.

Thank the gods there was none of that in Cincinnati. Or something.

It is at times like these that I am reminded of William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming" and the phrase...

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

The full text will be in the comments.

More Gender Reveal Party Insanity

At least no one died, which has happened at these stupid events. 80 pounds of explosives used in gender reveal, police say

“I’m not upset because I have chalk or confetti blowing my way,” Taglieri said. “I mean, it was an explosion that rocked my house, my neighbor’s, my community and town - just absolutely over the top, ridiculous.”

People are claiming cracks have formed in their home's foundations, but I can't find anything definitive on that.

Still, this gender-reveal insanity has to stop. People have been killed by pyrotechnics at these things. At least one California forest fire was started by pink or blue fireworks. Stop being idiots.

Tesla Crash Kills Two

Investigators say no one was driving. Elon Musk claims autopilot was not used in fiery Tesla crash that killed 2 people in The Woodlands - ABC13 Houston

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it has sent a Special Crash Investigation team to The Woodlands to look into the Saturday night crash of the electric car.

Investigators are "100% sure" that no one was driving the 2019 Tesla Model S that ran off a suburban parkway, hit a tree and burst into flames, killing two men inside, Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said.

But they're still trying to determine whether the electric car was operating on Tesla's Autopilot driver-assist system, or if the company's "Full Self-Driving Capability" system was in use.

It took 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.

Hat tip to Watts Up With That? In which it is noted...

The lithium in Tesla batteries creates a fire which is far more dangerous than a gasoline fire, and almost impossible to extinguish. Think twice before you park a Tesla in your home garage – if the battery ignites, and firefighters cannot extinguish the blaze, you could lose the house.

Even if your house structure survives the fire, acute exposure to the smoke and lithium contamination of the house and surrounds could be an issue – lithium poisoning can cause long term dementia like neurological problems (pyramidal cell dysfunction), along with problems with speech and muscle weakness.

Lets just say if I see a big Lithium fire, I’m not planning to hang around and breath in the smoke.