Oakland and Defund The Police

Can you guess how that is going? This US city was working to cut its police budget in half – then violent crime started to rise

Homicides in Oakland have risen 314% and while some back shifting resources to prevention and healing, others want alternatives in place to keep Black and brown people safe

You mean to tell me that the cops are not the biggest threat to order in Oakland? How can that be? Gangs, and a complete breakdown of civility isn't the cops' fault somehow.

“We can do all these pilot programs but there has to be a balance between holding police accountable to Black residents, while also making sure we are protected some way,” Henderson said. “We need to reallocate and rebuild our communities but we do not need to completely abolish the police so that everything goes haywire.”

Everything going haywire seems to be the goal.

We Clearly Need Commonsense Hatchet Control

As if you can stop people from being violent. Police: Teen armed with hatchet injures female juvenile

A Connecticut teenager armed with a hatchet severely wounded a girl he was obsessed with at her home and was arrested after fleeing the scene by jumping out of a second-story window, police said Thursday.

Becuse humans are a violent species.

Police in Watertown responded to the home at about 4 p.m. Wednesday and found the victim with serious injuries to her head, legs and hands, apparently inflicted by an edged weapon, authorities said. She was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, authorities said.

When they caught up with him, he had a hatchet, a large kitchen knife, and a machete, among other things.

The Left Will Tell You It Is "White Flight." It Isn't

Because if they look at the facts, they might have to reconsider their own policies. And they will never do that. The Factors Driving Flight From Chicago | Chicago Contrarian

Today’s migration comes as a result of crime, systemic education failures and progressive policies. The radical left coalition replacing the “Machine” in Chicago and Illinois may blame this on the tragedy of white privilege, yet in reality, the exodus could not be more inclusive and equitable this time around. Crime is at the top of the list for most people.

Crime increased substantially, most notably carjacking, in Chicago in 2020, and so far 2021 is worse on all fronts.

The New York Times published an in-depth essay on African American Chicago and pointed out that 50,000 black residents have left the city since 2015. And though the population remains split about a third for each of the major ethnic groups — white, Latino and black, the general exodus from the city no longer can be characterized by the phrase “white flight.”

This is an article about Chicago, because I read a lot of websites that have to do with that city. Do you Baltimore, or New York, or Philadelphia are different? They may not have the same inmates in charge of the asylum, but they are plagued by a lot of the same policies.

Fall into the Light

Dream Theater is a Progressive Metal band out of Boston that I quite like. They have been around since the 1980s, but I just recently stumbled across their work. They sound more like old-school Progressive Rock to me, but that is probably a function of when they got started. I like a lot of their work. I think you will as well.

This is "Fall into the Light" from Dream Theater from their 2019 album Distance Over Time

Someone Look Up the Word "Hypocrisy" for This Guy

The rule wasn't supposed to apply to him, or in cases of crimes against him. It should only be for crimes against those other people. Senator who sponsored cash bail ban is outraged: Driver who threatened him with gun only had to post $1,500 to get out of jail | CWB Chicago

“By him being released on bail, he’s free to do this again,” Sen. Elgie Sims of Chicago told the State-Journal Register.

Yet just last month Sims tweeted, “money bond doesn’t guarantee public safety or someone’s appearance in court, it supports a system where freedom is based on the size of someone’s bank account. We’ve tried the failed tough on crime polices [sic] of the past.”

It's funny how the rules change when politicians are the ones impacted.

She Could Have Gone Quietly

She could have refrained from having drugs in her possession, but I know that suggestion is beyond the pale today. Tennessee woman Nika Holbert killed in shootout with cop

The usual suspects are trying to incite riots, but I haven't read that any have taken place.

Footage of the Friday morning encounter between Metro Nashville Police Officer Josh Baker and Nika N. Holbert, 31, shows the 14-year veteran cop deploying his Taser on the woman while ordering her to get out of a car.

Baker then tries to take the woman into custody as she yells and reaches for a handgun, opening fire on the officer, who shoots back and fatally wounds Holbert

The registered owner of the car she was driving was wanted by police, so Officer Baker initiated a traffic stop. It started OK but when he found a white powder and marijuana things went off the rails.

Holbert, who was smoking a cigarette at the time, ignores the cop’s commands and gets back into the car, where she is hit with the stun gun. She then screams for help while struggling with Baker as she sits in the driver’s seat and appears to reach for a weapon, the footage shows.

Who was Nika Holbert? Tennessee woman found with drugs crashes and dies after shooting cop at point-blank range.

Nika Nicole Holbert is a 31-year-old resident of Madison, Tennessee with a long criminal record. A rap sheet released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has listed multiple offenses committed by Holbert, from driving under a revoked license to public indecency and for using an altered or false document. She also has a felony drug charge from 2010. The sheet indicates that her last interaction with law enforcement was in 2017, when she was charged with public indecency.

She apparently decided that a shootout with police was preferable to going to jail. I don't know if she got her wish, but the result is hardly shocking.

For a comparison of another, very similar shooting see Kentucky Cops Shoot a White Guy from The Other McCain.

This is a 15 minute video of the encounter between Baker and Holbert. It includes some news video, and both the bodycam and dashcam video from Officer Baker. It shows both Holbert and Baker getting shot. Holbert died in a crash a short distance from the shootout. Baker was in stable condition after surgery.

The Other McCain also considered this case. Nika Holbert and the BLM Myth.

Ma’am, Nika Holbert was not an innocent woman. She shot first.

You pull a gun on a cop, expect to die. I don’t know how to explain that more clearly. Cops aren’t trained to lose gunfights.

The Downtown Office and the Buggy Whip

The past year has proven that neither are needed in the 21st Century. Roughly 4 in 5 Manhattan Office Workers Will Not Return Full-Time, Survey Says

Just 22 percent of the island's large employers will require all workers to return to the office full-time when they do eventually go back, according to a Partnership for New York City survey.

Some 66 percent said they would adopt a hybrid model of days in the office and days at home, another 9 percent said they would not require workers to return to the office at all, and 4 percent said it would ultimately be role-dependent.

Office space in downtown areas like Manhattan, or Chicago's Loop, has traditionally been expensive. I think that might be about to change.

Without workers, transit requirements plummet, though maybe not to zero. Workers who are not in the city will not go out to lunch, or stop for a drink before heading home, or meet friends for dinner. (Hat tip Wendy McElroy.)

I Thought NYC Was a Progressive Utopia

It seems to also have a major problem with hate crimes. Anti-Asian attacks in NYC ‘are actually much higher’ than reported: Shea

Hate crimes against Asian New Yorkers are continuing to rise — but many more of those crimes are going unreported, the city’s top cop said Thursday.

A couple of years ago, it was antisemitic hate crimes. That seems to have changed.

Some Jazz

First up, "The Ghetto" by Donny Hathaway from the 1970 album , Everything Is Everything.

I actually first ran across this song when it was used in the soundtrack to the TV show Black Lightning. I have loved it since. (1970s jazz wasn't an era I listened to much... 1950s, 1940s, and some early 60s...

I love jazz saxophone from any era. This is "The Ruby and the Pearl" by Branford Marsallis. It was released in 2004.

The standards become standards for a reason. Mostly good songwriting. Thelonious Monk playing "Caravan," which was orginially recorded by Duke Ellington in the 1930s. Many people have recorded "Caravan" over the years, including a few associated with Exotica Jazz.

How Much Will Transit Ever Rebound?

Transit is a function of people working in downtown offices. That is a very 20th Century idea. With Metra ridership down 91.5%, railway adding new air purification system to restore confidence - Chicago Sun-Times.

Government stimulus funding is helping the company financially as it saw a 5.5 million fewer passenger trips during the month of January compared to pre-pandemic ridership.

Because spending money on outdated technology is surely what government is best at.

In January of last year, passengers took nearly six million trips, but a year later, ridership this past January barely broke 500,000 trips, which is 5.5 million fewer than last year. Last month’s number was even lower, at 493,000 trips. Metra had earlier estimated that passenger trips would reach 20% of pre-pandemic levels by 2021.

How many people will return to downtown offices? Now that companies have a year to guage how remote working works, and whether it costs or saves money... You could also look at vacancy rates for downtown office space.

This story is about Metra - part of the transit system in and around Chicago - but I'm sure that similar problems are hitting NYC, and other cities.

Coping with a Learning Disability

Rick Beato is one of my favorite YouTube video personalities. He was a college instructor, member of a Rock & Roll band, producer, etc. His channel is mostly about teaching music theory. How songs (good songs and bad songs) are structured and why Pop Music is in love with bad song structure. Etc. But like most people he occasionally lets some personal info out into the world. This is a great video, that has nothing to do with music theory, except as how it impacted his life.

You might want to share this with anyone who is struggling in school, or who have kids who are...

This is Coping w/ a Learning Disability | Where Teaching Falls Short by Rick Beato.

How Is That Affordable Bail Working Out?

Not to well from the victims' point of view. #10: Man, on bail for gun case, is charged with attempted murder for shooting at carjacking victims | CWB Chicago

CWB is keeping count.

A Chicago man is charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at two victims during an armed carjacking Sunday while he was on affordable bail for a pending felony gun case.

Not that a collection of facts will cause the Liberals to abandon Affordable Bail. Or anything else.

Color Me Shocked - NYPD Internal Affairs May Be Bent

Who will watch the watchers? No one, apparently. Rampant corruption in NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau: lawsuit

An NYPD lieutenant allegedly concocted bogus sting operations on his colleagues to bilk thousands of dollars in overtime pay — yet was protected from punishment by the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, a new lawsuit charges.

The whistleblower complaint filed Wednesday by Officer Scott Munro Jr. alleges a rampant campaign of cover-ups and retaliation within the IAB condoned by Deputy Commissioner Joseph Reznick.

You mean to tell me that the cops in IA are not guaranteed to be as pure as the driven snow, but they may actually the bastards that they're made out to be on TV?

Newsflash: Tasers Don't Always Work

I suppose the generation that is writing the crap in newspapwers today thinks that technology always works. Tasers appear to fail in 2 Nashville officer-involved shootings Friday

Where would we be without experts?

While tasers are often an officer’s first line of defense to get someone to comply, experts tell News 2 there are many times they don’t work.

Footage of both shootings from the Metro Nashville Police Department’s new body cameras reveal this may have been the case in both incidents.

Nashville officers defend themselves. In one instance, while they were screwing around with a Taser, the subject got an officer's gun and shot him. She was killed.

Don't most people realize that technology is not perfect? I suppose so. They are always so surprised when the latest version of Candy Crush doesn't work, or whatever.

Buddha Trump

Don Surber brings us Buddha Trump

The New York Times and ABC are aghast. An artisan in Red China has depicted President Emeritus Donald John Trump not as an orange crybaby, but as a contemplative spiritual leader in his 70s who Made America Great Again.

How dare anyone cast President Trump in a positive light!

There is a link in the comments if you want to order one. Though I am sure if you do, the Democrats will declare you to be an extremist of some sort.

Saturday Roundup of Link Roundups

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain starts us off with In The Mailbox: 03.17.21 (Morning Edition)

Vox Popoli: You Will NOT Talk Back, also, You. Had. One. Job.
Gab News: Gab Is Too Big To Ignore

Bacon Time!!!! - Wednesday Linkage

Hogewash - I’m So Old …
WUWT - The social costs of carbon cancelation
Freedom Is Just Another Word… - I Would Be Concerned Also…

Wendy McElroy - News and commentary round up for March 19

From Zero Hedge: American Airlines "Looking Into It" After John Kerry Busted Flying Without Mask. "Being an elite hypocrite is hard work!"
From Politico: Trump set to do at least 12 book interviews in the coming weeks.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 3/17/2021

“Anyone Know Any Hackers?”: “Anti-Racist” Facebook Group Targets Parents Who Questioned School’s Critical Race Theory Curriculum
A group of parents and teachers in Loudoun County, Virginia, are working to compile a list...

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.17.21 (Evening Edition)

Shark Tank: State Senator Polsky Calls Green New Deal “Political”
Shot In The Dark: Facts Leaking Through, also, Hand To Hand Combat

The Right Way - Top of the News

Conservatives need a leader — and all we’ve got are politicians - Bookworm Room
Inside PragerU’s Pro-American Education Resource for K-12 Students - 90 Miles From Tyranny

A View from the Beach - Election 2020: Feelings, Nothing More than Feelings

The unsinkable Molly Hemingway at Da Fed, Media’s Entire Georgia Narrative Is Fraudulent, Not Just The Fabricated Trump Quotes recounts the long history of fishiness in the Georgia election. Read it all.

Vlad Tepes - Dr. Rand Paul takes on Fauci, other doctors break rank: Links 2, March 18, 2021

1. Australian scientist breaks ranks, loses job over disagreement with Wuhan Flu narrative
2. Bangladeshi muslim Doctor arrested in Boston trying to obtain deadly ricin

Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 03.18.21

The Federalist: The Biden Administration Is Imposing A Media Blackout At The Border, also, OR Health Officials Propose Making Mask Mandates Permanent
Mark Steyn: Racist Hiking & Wokestapo Psychology

Battleswarm Blog - LinkSwarm for March 19, 2021

21 states, lead by Texas and Montana, sue the Biden Administration over the illegal cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Our garbage ruling class:

Cafe Hayek - Some Non-Covid Links

My intrepid Mercatus Center colleague Veronique de Rugy understandably finds unsettling the similarities of the policies of Biden with the policies of Trump. A slice:

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 1: Kane reported, "Dan Bongino to replace Rush Limbaugh…"
The story said, "Bongino is a former NYPD officer and Secret Service agent turned conservative pundit and investor in digital properties including Parler and Rumble.

One last time from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 03.19.21

Transterrestrial Musings: Mannsuit Update, also, Glynn Lunney
Victory Girls: Marjorie Taylor Greene Faces Expulsion From Congress
Volokh Conspiracy: National Review Not Liable For Mark Steyn’s Blog Post About Michael Mann

Maggie's Farm - Thursday morning links

Facebook Voter Drive Swayed Election to Biden: Executive Caught on Camera
75% of Voters Support Voter ID Laws — Something Democrats Are Determined to Eliminate

Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 3/18/21 [J.J. Sefton]

"Biden nominee for Justice Department owns up to $1 million in auto parts manufacturer."
Vanita Gupta Says She Backs $15 "Livable Wage" -- Her Family Business Pays Mexicans $1.30 an Hour

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: The Sovereign Crime of Industrial Scale Vote Fraud

Russia Joins China's Wuhan Virus Lie Campaign: Austin Bay
Chip shortage could present new US-China flashpoint: AT
One Female Powerlifter’s Fight to Defend Women’s Sports: Virginia Allen

I leave you with Wednesday gifdump from Knuckledraggin My Life Away, Wednesday Memes .. from Freedom Is Just Another Word… and Cartoon Round Up.... from Theo Spark.

Asian-Americans and Self-defense

The media is surprised by this. Asian-Americans Are Buying Guns For Protection From Hate Crimes

Pepper spray is also popular.

Hate crimes against Asian-Americans surged 149% in 2020, while overall hate crimes fell 7%, according to a study based on police statistics by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Click thru.

A We Are The Mighty History Lesson

You may know of Dunkirk from the movie of the same name. 5 times soldiers won against the odds - We Are The Mighty

One of the better-known assumptions about combat is that the side with the greater numbers usually wins. Seems pretty self-explanatory, right? Being outnumbered puts you at an automatic disadvantage. Still, other factors, like experience, equipment, tactics and even weather come into play. Here is a list of famous clashes throughout history with unlikely resolutions.

Agincourt is probably my favorite.

Be warned: the video won't shut up at that link. You may want to turn of the speakers or something.

Unified

Acoustic versions of Heavy Metal songs are something I love. I usually love them in their own right, and I also love to use them to annoy my friends. They hear a song, and say "See, now I like that song," and I can answer "I thought you hated Heavy Metal." No screaming guitars, no thundering drums, just an acoustic guitar, and some voices, and exceptional songwriting.

This song is "Unified (acoustic)" by Amaranthe. The original version was on the 2018 album Helix. The acoustic version was released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the CD. You can also find it on Spotify. The acoustic version really lets you hear how Elize Ryd has a wonderful voice.