SO META: Here Are the Mugshots of the Guys Who Allegedly Run Mugshots.com (And Why They Were Booked)
Posted: May 19, 2018 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice | Tags: Addis Ababa, Backpage, California, Crime, James Larkin, Michael Lacey, Money laundering, Prostitution, United States Department of Justice, Xavier Becerra Leave a comment
The AG’s statement claims that Mugshots.com owners got $64,000 from about 175 people with billing addressed in the state. That’s over a three-year period. Of course, that falls way, way short of how much they raked nationwide: The four got over $2 million in “de-publishing” fees from 5,703 people.
Alberto Luperon reports: The alleged owners of Mugshots.com have been charged and arrested. These four men–Sahar Sarid, Kishore Vidya Bhavnanie, Thomas Keesee, and David Usdan–only removed a person’s mugshot from the site if this individual paid a “de-publishing” fee, according to the California Attorney General on Wednesday. That’s apparently considered extortion. On top of that, they also face charges for money laundering, and identity theft.
“This pay-for-removal scheme attempts to profit off of someone else’s humiliation.”
If you read a lot of articles about crime, then you’re probably already familiar with the site (which is still up as of Friday afternoon). They take mugshots, slap the url multiple times on the image, and post it on the site alongside an excerpt from a news outlet that covered the person’s arrest.
“Those who can’t afford to pay into this scheme to have their information removed pay the price when they look for a job, housing, or try to build relationships with others. This is exploitation, plain and simple.”
— Attorney General Xavier Becerra
According to the AG’s office, the owners would only remove the mugshots if the person paid a fee, even if the charges were dismissed or if the suspect was only arrested because of “mistaken identity or law enforcement error.”
You can read the affidavit here.
According to the complaint, a man identified as Jesse T. tried to have his mugshot removed. A friend had reached out to him, concerned he might be prison. T. discovered that his arrest information from Sept. 2, 2013 was posted on the site. It had his full name, address, gender, and the charge he was arrested for. He went to the link to get rid of the mugshot–unpublisharrest.com–but they demanded a $399 fee. He got in touch with the 800 number listed on the site, and when the man on the phone told him he needed to pay the fee, T. said that was illegal.
[Read the full story here, at Law & Crime]
“The man laughed and hung up,” the affidavit said. The man hung up again when T. tried calling back to say he had proof clearing him of the charges. T. tried calling again three times on July 23, 2016. It went to a recording every time. After that, he got an unlisted call on his home phone, and he turned on a recorder before answering, the affidavit said. T. played the following message for investigators [sic, as written in the affidavit; his name is alternately spelled “Jesse” and “Jessie” in the document]:
Jessie T.: Hello
Unknown Male: -this third time tell you fucking bitch we’ll never answer your calls again you’ve been permanently published faggot bitch.
Jessie T.: Hey I’d like my stuff removed.
Call ended.
Records cited by the affidavit showed that T. was only detained by cops, but his case was dropped due to lack of evidence. Even so, the damage was done. The incident was treated as “detention only.” Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Lawmaker Wants Victims to be Able to Sue Sanctuary City Politicians
Posted: February 1, 2017 Filed under: Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: 2016, Crime, Donald Trump, Donald Trump presidential campaign, Executive order, Los Angeles, Mexico–United States border, New York City, Sanctuary city, Shooting of Kathryn Steinle, U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Leave a commentErnest Luning reports: A Colorado Springs Republican wants victims of what he calls “sanctuary city policies” to be able to file lawsuits and lodge criminal complaints against the “lawless politicians” who put the policies in place.
State Rep. Dave Williams, R-Colorado Springs, is pictured before his election on July 1, 2016, at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. (Photo by John Tomasic/The Colorado Statesman)
State Rep. Dave Williams said Monday he plans to introduce “The Colorado Politician Accountability Act” this week, legislation aimed at holding officials criminally liable for the “carnage” committed by some immigrants.
“If being a ‘sanctuary city’ means that we value taking care of one another and welcoming refugees and immigrants, then I welcome the title.”
“As the first Latino elected to Colorado House District 15,” said Williams, who was first elected to the heavily Republican district in November, in a statement, “I think it’s important that we do all we can to uphold the rule of law and ensure all communities, regardless of race or ethnicity, are protected from dangerous policies that are forced on us by radical, out-of-touch politicians who continually sell out to an unlawful agenda that increases the number of criminals, and needless deaths among our fellow citizens.”
“It’s beyond any reasonable thought as to why the Democrats, along with Mayor Hancock, would continue to not only act outside the law, which they swore to uphold but also enjoy immunity from their reckless decision to place Coloradans in danger because of the sanctuary city policies that they created and continue to implement.”
Announcing the bill, Williams took aim at Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who said in a video posted online Friday that he was fine with calling Denver a “sanctuary city.”
“If being a ‘sanctuary city’ means that we value taking care of one another and welcoming refugees and immigrants, then I welcome the title,” Hancock said. Read the rest of this entry »
South Korean President Park Geun-hye Struggles to Avoid Impeachment
Posted: November 29, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Global, Politics | Tags: Blue House, Crime, Lee Young, Opposition (parliamentary), Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye, Political scandal, President of South Korea, Prosecutor, SEOUL, South Korea Leave a comment
SEOUL (AP) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that she will resign — if parliament arranges the technical details — in her latest attempt to fend off impeachment efforts and massive street protests amid prosecution claims that a corrupt confidante wielded government power from the shadows.
“If the ruling and opposition parties discuss and come up with a plan to reduce the confusion in state affairs and ensure a safe transfer of governments, I will step down from the presidential position under that schedule and by processes stated in law.”
— South Korean President Park Geun-hye
Opponents immediately called Park’s conditional resignation offer a stalling tactic, and analysts said her steadfast denial that she has done anything wrong could embolden her enemies. The country’s largest opposition party, the Minjoo Party, said it would not let Park’s “ploy to avoid impeachment” interfere with a planned vote on impeachment on Friday.
“There is no possibility that the opposition parties will accept her offer; not when the public is this angry. She apparently wanted to buy more time, but in the end she might have hastened the end of her presidency.”
— Yul Shin, a politics professor at Seoul’s Myongji University
Park, who did not take questions from reporters after her live address to the nation, said she will “leave the matters about my fate, including the shortening of my presidential term, to be decided by the National Assembly,” referring to parliament.
[ALSO SEE – South Korean president’s office explains Viagra purchase]
“If the ruling and opposition parties discuss and come up with a plan to reduce the confusion in state affairs and ensure a safe transfer of governments, I will step down from the presidential position under that schedule and by processes stated in law,” she said.
How exactly this might play out is still unclear. But some saw Park’s speech as a clear effort to avoid leaving office, despite the resignation language. Read the rest of this entry »
America’s Emerging Nationalism Crisis
Posted: November 14, 2016 Filed under: Economics, Health and Social Issues, History, Politics, Think Tank | Tags: Advertising, American Community Survey, Anthony Weiner, Attack ad, Barack Obama, Crime, Democratic Party (United States), Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Donald Trump, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton email controversy, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, James Comey, Republican Party (United States), WikiLeaks 1 Comment
The United States has entered the era of ethnic nationalism replacing ideology in our politics—and there’s no going back.
John R. Schindler writes: The election of Donald Trump as our next president heralds a new political epoch for the United States. Whatever his shortcomings as a candidate, the Republican nominee, a political neophyte, slayed both of the political dynasties that had more or less run our national life for the last three decades. There won’t be anyone named Bush or Clinton around the White House for a good long while now. This is no mean feat, not to mention something for which all Americans who dislike dynasties should be grateful.
“Whatever one thinks of James Comey, who has managed to offend both right and left in recent months, the notion that his investigation of Hillary’s emails, rather than her own mistakes as secretary of state—the steadfast refusal to use government email for government work, her ‘private’ server of bathroom infamy, all the highly classified information that wound up in her ‘unclassified’ emails, not to mention her innumerable lies about it all—constituted the real problem in EmailGate reeks of the purest Clintonism.”
How Trump did it is being hotly debated. True to form, Hillary Clinton has announced that her loss is all the fault of the FBI and its director, whose eleventh-hour reopening of her email scandal sank her at the ballot box. Whatever one thinks of James Comey, who has managed to offend both right and left in recent months, the notion that his investigation of Hillary’s emails, rather than her own mistakes as secretary of state—the steadfast refusal to use government email for government work, her “private” server of bathroom infamy, all the highly classified information that wound up in her “unclassified” emails, not to mention her innumerable lies about it all—constituted the real problem in EmailGate reeks of the purest Clintonism.
“This was more of the Marxistoid ‘right side of History’ blather that Team Obama has indulged in for the last eight years—and it was utterly wrong. To the surprise of no one who understands human nature, many whites didn’t appreciate being told that they had to die off for ‘progress’ to be achieved.”
Democrats are also pointing a finger at Moscow, claiming that its secret ties to the Trump campaign plus the clandestine help of Wikileaks, whose massive dumps of Democratic emails painted Team Hillary in a highly unfavorable light, ultimately did in Clinton, Inc. Here they’re on somewhat firmer ground. Kremlin interference played a role in the campaign—exactly how much will be debated for decades—in a manner that should trouble all Americans.
“They didn’t like being derided by their betters as ‘bitter clingers’ with their guns and Bibles, and they especially didn’t like being termed ‘deplorables’ unworthy of compassion or consideration.”
That said, there’s not much to deny here, since Moscow has now admitted its previously hush-hush ties to Wikileaks and its contacts with members of the Trump campaign. Moreover, those who are now so eager to find Russians under every bed in Washington are the same people who pooh-poohed warnings about Wikileaks and the Kremlin—I was issuing them years ago—as scaremongering. It’s too late now, the election’s over. Time to move on, learn lessons, and accept the people’s verdict.
[Read the full text here, at Observer]
Some Americans are clearly not ready to move on. Their radical fringe has been fighting in the streets, rioting and burning trees to show their displeasure, thereby proving true all the nasty things that Trump has said about the nut-left. The ugly nature of these outbursts has many wondering what has happened to the country. However, when Democratic leaders publicly denounce Trump and the Republicans as the party of “hate” it’s not surprising that the country’s perennially aggrieved lumpenriot contingent takes action.
Welcome to the Al-Sharptonization of the Democratic Party
“It cannot be denied that ethno-racial concerns played a role here—and that it was the Democrats who opened that can of worms.”
At a certain level, how Trump won is so simple that most pundits—the same people who gave the president-elect no chance of winning—can’t see it. The Republican nominee got enough white votes—especially among the working class, particularly in the upper Mid-West—to offset huge Democratic advantages among minorities and white professionals. This was the Sailer Strategy, named after the insightful blogger who coined the notion back in 2000. Steve Sailer’s essential idea, that the GOP needed to max out the white vote to keep winning national elections in the face of changing demographics, was rejected by most Republicans as smacking of racism.
[Read the full story here, at Observer]
It cannot be stated too many times that the GOP establishment repeatedly rejected Sailerism. Indeed, leading Republicans often seemed to run in the other direction from its commonsense logic. The facts are clear: that Mitt Romney failed to get many votes from working-class whites in the very places where Trump just attracted them in droves caused the GOP to lose the White House in 2012.
Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] White House: Obama ‘Concerned’ But Doesn’t Have Specific Ideas on Addressing Chicago Gun Violence
Posted: August 30, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Guns and Gadgets, Mediasphere, Self Defense, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Chicago, Crime, Gun laws, Gun violence, Josh Earnest, media, murder, news, video, White House Press Conference 1 Comment
[VIDEO] State Department Blames Criticism of U.S. Ransom Payment to Iran on…the Media
Posted: August 18, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Diplomacy, Global, Mediasphere, War Room, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Cash, Cinema of the United States, Crime, Hostages, Iran, Josh Earnest, media, news, Obama administration, Quid pro quo, Ransom, State Department, The Wall Street Journal, United States, United States Department of Justice, United States Department of State, video, White House Press Secretary Leave a comment
The State Department admitted Thursday that the US would not hand over $400 million in cash to Iran until it released four American hostages — two weeks after President Obama insisted the payment was not a “ransom.”
State Department spokesman John Kirby was asked at Thursday’s press briefing: “In basic English, you’re saying you wouldn’t give them $400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct?”
“That’s correct,” Kirby replied.
In an Aug. 4 press conference, President Obama said the opposite.
“We do not pay ransom. We didn’t here, and we won’t in the future,” the president told reporters, speaking of the Jan. 17 payment and hostage release.
Families “know we have a policy that we don’t pay ransom. And the notion that we would somehow start now, in this high-profile way, and announce it to the world, even as we’re looking in the faces of other hostage families whose loved ones are being held hostage, and saying to them ‘We don’t pay ransom,’ defies logic,” Obama added at the time. Read the rest of this entry »
Cops in Freddie Gray Case Suing Marilyn Mosby: ‘Ulterior Motives in Charging the Officers’
Posted: July 28, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Baltimore, Baltimore City Public Schools, Brian Rice, Crime, Gray's Anatomy, Marilyn Mosby, Maryland, Police officer, Police van, Prosecutor, State's attorney 1 Comment
The lawsuits allege false arrest, false imprisonment, defamation or false light, and other assertions. They were filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland in 2015 in late April and early May around the time the officers were arrested.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is going from prosecutor to civil defendant in connection with the case of the death of Freddie Gray.
“Marilyn Mosby’s comments in her press conference today confirm that the charges brought against my clients, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter, as well as the other four officers, were politically motivated and not supported by evidence to establish probable cause.”
On Wednesday, Mosby announced that charges against three officers still facing trial were being dropped. Mosby gave only a statement, but had to leave without taking questions because five of the officers in the case have filed lawsuits against her.
People celebrate after State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced criminal charges against all six officers suspended after Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody in Baltimore. Photo: David Goldman/Associated Press
Officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero and William Porter as well as Sgt. Alicia White and Lt. Brian Rice are suing Mosby and Maj. Samuel Cogen of the Baltimore Sheriff’s Office. Cogen was the law enforcement officer who filed charging documents against the officers.
The lawsuits allege false arrest, false imprisonment, defamation or false light, and other assertions. They were filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland in 2015 in late April and early May around the time the officers were arrested.
Gray died in a hospital on April 19, 2015, a week after police stopped him on a Baltimore street. After his arrest, officers placed Gray in the back of a police van, which made several stops.
Demonstrators destroy the windshield of a Baltimore Police car as they protest the death Freddie Gray, an African American man who died of spinal cord injuries in police custody, in Baltimore, Maryland, April 25, 2015. Protesters returned to Baltimore’s streets Saturday to vent outrage over the death of Gray. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
Rice and Nero had already been acquitted in separate bench trials. So had Officer Caesar Goodson, who apparently has not filed suit. Porter was the first to be tried but his case ended with the jury unable to reach a unanimous decision.
An attorney for two of the officers said Wednesday that there were ulterior motives in charging the officers.
“Marilyn Mosby’s comments in her press conference today confirm that the charges brought against my clients, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter, as well as the other four officers, were politically motivated and not supported by evidence to establish probable cause,” Michael E. Glass said.
He said his client suffered “extensive pain and suffering.” Porter and White had been suspended without pay until Wednesday. They are now on desk duty after more than a year on leave.
Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the case, paints himself as minimally involved, according to court documents. Read the rest of this entry »
John Gibbs: 5 Things President Obama Needs To Say About Black Crime
Posted: July 21, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, Think Tank, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Baton Rouge, Crime, Dallas, Federal Bureau of Investigation, John Gibbs, Police Shootings, Race in America, The Federalist, United States Department of Justice, War on Cops Leave a comment
John Gibbs
writes: President Obama held a nationally televised town hall last week to address heightened tensions and divisions in our society due to recent shootings of black criminals by police, and the recent shootings of police officers in Dallas. Just days after the event, three police officers in Baton Rouge were assassinated, further highlighting the high stakes for how the president handles this issue.
I was invited to attend last week’s town hall and ask the president a question, but ultimately could not make it. But I did watch it at home, and would like to highlight some key points President Obama did not to make, which could have begun the process of healing and reconciliation.
Indeed, Sunday’s execution of three police officers in Baton Rouge shows what can happen when the president creates an atmosphere of racial victimization and blames police. So it is critical that Obama develops a new message that takes us in the right direction before things get worse and there’s another incident.
With that in mind, here are the statements President Obama should have included in his remarks last week.
1. ‘We Must, Must, Must Reduce the Black Crime Rate’
The black crime rate is significantly higher than that of other races. Yes, some would claim this is due to institutionalized racism or a lack of job opportunities. However, black crime was much lower in past eras when discrimination against black people was much higher, and the economic position of black people was much worse, than today. So that can be no excuse.
[Read the full story here, at thefederalist]
President Obama should have talked about how the overall crime rate for black people is three times higher than the national average. He should have noted how blacks commit homicide at a rate eight times higher than whites do, according to Department of Justice data. Even though blacks and Hispanics combined make up only 30 percent of the population, they make up more than 80 percent of all gang members in the United States. He should also have talked how even though black folks are only 13 percent of the population, we commit about 62 percent of all robberies and 56 percent of all carjackings. Obama should have then asked: “Is this really what Dr. King died for?”
2. ‘We Must Put the Black Family Back Together’
Even though the studies clearly show that children born into single-parent homes have worse outcomes in nearly every area, sadly, today about 72 percent of black kids are born to unwed mothers. This has created a whole new generation of troubled young men who have an increased likelihood of entering a life of crime and getting themselves into altercations with the police that create these divisive incidents we see on the news.
26 Police Killed So Far in 2016, Up 44% from 2015
Posted: July 8, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Self Defense, Terrorism, U.S. News | Tags: Ambush, Crime, Dallas Massacre, Police, Police officer, War on Cops 1 Comment
Dallas police chief David Brown says a gunman that was holed up downtown expressed anger for Black Lives Matter and only wanted to shoot white police officers. He was killed after police sent in a bomb robot.
“That’s certainly a concern for us. It’s troubling and it’s something that we watch. It’s really an assassination. You’re taking advantage of an officer and you’re ensuring that you’re able to kill them through them either being vulnerable or through a complete surprise attack.”
— Nick Breul, director of research for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
The number of police officers shot and killed in the USA is 44% higher than at this time last year following the Dallas ambush Thursday night that left five officers dead, according to data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
The deaths of four Dallas police officers and one Dallas transit officer from sniper fire during a protest in the city Thursday raised the national total of firearm deaths among police to 26. This compares with 18 at this point in time in 2015, said Nick Breul, director of research for the fund in Washington, D.C.
Breul said it was also the latest of 11 ambushes of police officers so far this year across the country, already outpacing the eight ambushes of law enforcement that occurred last year.
“That’s certainly a concern for us. It’s troubling and it’s something that we watch,” Breul, a former Washington, D.C., police officer, said about the shootings. Read the rest of this entry »
Alan Dershowitz: Did FBI Director Comey Exceed His Authority?
Posted: July 6, 2016 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Politics | Tags: Alan Dershowitz, Crime, FBI, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Prosecutor, The Pantsuit Report 2 Comments
Alan Dershowitz writes: FBI Director James Comey’s statement recommending against prosecuting Hillary Clinton was unusual in several respects. First, it is not generally regarded as the job of the FBI to make 
judgment calls about whether or not to prosecute. Those judgment calls are supposed to be made by prosecutors. The job of the FBI is to investigate the facts and lay them out as objectively and completely as possible so that prosecutors can exercise their discretion and judgment.
Although technically the attorney general in this case could exercise independent judgment, she is unlikely to do so, having already said she would defer to the FBI’s recommendation. So in this instance the FBI found the facts, applied the law and exercised prosecutorial discretion. A strange role for an investigative agency!
“The evidence in this case, as he described it, would not have justified a criminal prosecution. There is simply no precedent for indicting a former secretary of State for carelessness, even extreme carelessness.”
Second, it is unusual for an FBI director to express opinions such as the kind that Comey made in his statement. He said that Clinton had been “extremely careless” in her handling of sensitive material. That is not a legal concept, but to lay people it could sound very much like “gross negligence,” which is one of the statutory criteria for bringing a prosecution.
Normally when a prosecutor declines prosecution, all that is said is that there will be no indictment. It is rare, though not unprecedented, for a prosecutor to then go on to excoriate the object of the investigation. The question should be asked: Is that a proper role for the director of the FBI?
[Read the full text here, at TheHill]
Third, Comey used an unusual verbal formulation in discussing classified information. This is what he said:
“Only a small number of the emails containing classified information bore markings indicating the presence of classified information.”
He did not explain what he meant by the words “bore markings.” Does this mean that they were stamped “classified”? Or does it mean that there were indications within the text of the emails that would show that it was in fact classified? The confusion was exacerbated by Comey’s next sentence in which he said the following:
“But even if information is not marked ‘classified’ in an email, participants who know or should know that the subject is classified are obligated to protect it.”
Comey’s use of the words “marked classified” seems to suggest that there is a distinction between emails that were marked “classified” and emails that “bore markings indicating the presence of classified information.”
This use of different verbal formulations suggests that none of the emails were actually marked “classified.” I may be wrong in that surmise, but it is certainly suggested by how Comey used these different formulations. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Criminal Checks Gone Mad’: Daily Telegraph Front Page for Dec 26th, 2015
Posted: December 25, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Global, Mediasphere, Politics, Terrorism | Tags: Boxing Day, British Press, Crime, England, Immigration, media, news, Newspapers, Refugees, Tabloid, The Telegraph Leave a comment
Proceeding as Planned: Deportations Under Obama Plummet During Second Term
Posted: December 25, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Politics, Terrorism, White House | Tags: Alien (law), Barack Obama, Crime, Deportation, Fort Hood shooting, Illegal immigration, Immigration law, U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Border Patrol, United States Department of Homeland Security 3 Comments
The new figures show a dramatic four-year decline in the number of deportations carried out by the Obama administration, from more than 409,000 in 2012 to just 235,000 in fiscal 2015.
For the 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. who otherwise stay out of trouble, the chances of being deported are less than 1 percent, according to new figures released by the Department of Homeland Security.
“It’s a way to reduce your immigration enforcement without going through the legislative process of changing the law. It’s a way of doing a pseudo-amnesty without legislatively doing an amnesty.”
— Claude Arnold, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in charge of Southern California
The new figures show a dramatic four-year decline in the number of deportations carried out by the Obama administration, from more than 409,000 in 2012 to just 235,000 in fiscal 2015.
The numbers represent the fewest deportations since 2006.
“You have the resources to do it, those resources should be dedicated to not just removing criminal aliens but anyone else. The fact is, someone doesn’t want those laws enforced and it’s plain to see.”
— Claude Arnold, who spent 27 years at ICE
During President Obama’s first term, some Latino groups branded him the “deporter in chief” – yet other critics of the administration’s enforcement approach say the second-term figures show he’s anything but, as his executive actions and other policies take effect.
“It’s a way to reduce your immigration enforcement without going through the legislative process of changing the law,” said Claude Arnold, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in charge of Southern California, referring to those policies. “It’s a way of doing a pseudo-amnesty without legislatively doing an amnesty.”
Arnold stressed that deportation numbers are down in two key categories: criminals and interior enforcement.
On the first, Obama has emphasized throughout his two terms that he is focused on deporting “criminal aliens.” Yet the new numbers show criminal alien deportations declined 27 percent from last year, from 86,923 to 63,127 in 2015. Read the rest of this entry »
Determined to Prove Critics’ Predictions Right, De Blasio Oversees Resurgence Of Graffiti & Urine Smell Reminiscent of Scorsese’s 1970s ‘Taxi Driver’ Era New York
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics, U.S. News | Tags: Allah, Bill de Blasio, Crime, Decay, Graffiti, Long Island Rail Road, Manhattan, New York City, New York City Police Department, Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver 1 Comment
Graffiti was an infamous symbol of the decline and decay of New York City in the 1970s and ’80s, and some now say it appears to be making a comeback.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Graffiti was an infamous symbol of the decline and decay of New York City in the 1970s and ’80s, and some now say it appears to be making a comeback.
As CBS2’s Scott Rapoport reported Monday, residents have noticed and they want it gone.
Bold graffiti lines parts of walls, ramps and pavement at the Forest Hills Long Island Rail Road station in Queens.
“It’s awful,” one man said.
“Most of the time it’s ignored,” said City Councilmember Karen Koslowitz (D-29th).
Koslowitz said the graffiti has been there since the summer, and she said she has been in touch repeatedly with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to get rid of it. But she said in the ensuing months, things got worse.
“I’ve seen a lot more graffiti then I’ve seen in a long time,” she said.
And it is not an isolated occurrence. Citywide, some say graffiti appears to be more and more prevalent.
According to the NYPD, the number of graffiti complaints citywide in 2015 is up 15 percent from last year. Meanwhile, arrests for graffiti are down 10 percent compared with last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Thai Faces Jail for Insulting King’s Dog
Posted: December 15, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Censorship, Crime & Corruption, Global | Tags: Ambassadors of the United States, Bangkok, Bhumibol Adulyadej, Crime, Dog, Junta, Pawinee Chumsri, Thailand, Thanakorn Siripaiboon, Thong Daeng Leave a comment
A Thai faces prison after being charged with lese majeste for insulting the king’s dog, his lawyer said today, in an escalation of the already draconian royal defamation law.
“Thanakorn also faces lese majeste, sedition and computer crimes charges for clicking ‘like’ on a doctored photo of the king and sharing it, plus an infographic on a growing corruption scandal engulfing the junta.”
Thanakorn Siripaiboon, 27, has been charged by police with lese majeste for a “satirical” Facebook post about the king and his dog, lawyer Pawinee Chumsri told AFP.
“There was a post including three photos on his Facebook page on December 6 with a message that satirised the king’s dog,” she said.
Thanakorn also faces lese majeste, sedition and computer crimes charges for clicking “like” on a doctored photo of the king and sharing it, plus an infographic on a growing corruption scandal engulfing the junta.
“Thanakorn, an auto-parts worker, could face up to 37 years in prison. There has been a recent trend towards record-breaking sentences on transgressors, many of whom are also regime critics.”
Thailand has one of the world’s harshest royal defamation laws. Anyone convicted of insulting the revered but ailing 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or the queen, heir or regent can face up to 15 years in jail on each count.
Prosecutions have soared since the army, which styles itself as the champion of the monarchy, grabbed power in a coup last year. Read the rest of this entry »
Washington Post: Gun Violence Declining, Except in Gun-Free Zones
Posted: December 4, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, Politics, Self Defense, U.S. News | Tags: American Gun (2005 film), American Psychiatric Association, Barack Obama, BMJ, Brady Campaign, Congressional Research Service, Crime, Gun safety, Injury prevention, The Washington Post, United States 1 Comment
The Washington Post reports that gun crime has been on the decline for about 20 years, except for high-profile shootings in gun-free zones.
AWR Hawkins reports: On December 3, The Washington Post reported that gun crime has been on the decline for about 20 years, except for high-profile shootings in gun-free zones; WaPo claims those shootings are on the increase.
According to WaPo, “In 1993, there were seven homicides by firearm for every 100,000 Americans. … By 2013, that figure had fallen by nearly half, to 3.6 [per 100,000].”
Breitbart News previously pointed to this decline and explained it correlated with a massive increase in privately owned firearms over the same period of time. For example, Congressional Research Service showed that the number of privately owned firearms increased from 192 million in 1994 to 310 million in 2009. And record background checks under Obama make it easy to see how tens of millions more privately owned guns have found their way into Americans’ hands since 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATE: Two Suspects Dead, One is Male, One is Female, Identities Known, Not Released
Posted: December 2, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Terrorism | Tags: Arizona, Barack Obama, Crime, Difference between Suspect and Perpetrator, Domestic violence, Drive-by shooting, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Times, Medical state, South Los Angeles Leave a comment
Police pull body from suspects’ vehicle in San Bernardino
DEVELOPING: Police chasing a black SUV believed to be the getaway car for three suspects who shot up an office holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday, murdering 14 people, captured or killed two suspects and were going house-to-house pursuing a third who fled on foot.
The shootout occurred less than two miles from the social services center where the massacre occurred hours earlier, and police sources told Fox KTTV they believe the suspects in the SUV were the ones responsible for the earlier attack. There were conflicting reports about two suspects, with some saying they were killed and others that they were captured. The suspect who remained at large was initially believed to be inside a nearby residence, but police were seen going house-to-house looking for him. Police Chief Jarrod Burguan warned all area residents to remain indoors.
“It’s still, again a very active, fluid situation,” said San Bernardino Police spokeswoman Vickie Cervantes, who said the chase began after police doing “follow-up work” in the wake of the mass shooting located the suspects’ vehicle.
The events appeared to bring closer to a conclusion a manhunt that began after three heavily armed gunmen “on a mission” — and garbed in body armor — burst into a San Bernardino social services facility and murdered in cold blood at least 14 people attending an office holiday party. The men, who witnesses said were wearing body armor and masks, entered the Inland Regional Center just after 11 a.m. with grim precision, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.
Once inside, they opened fire with rifles, shooting people in a conference room where a holiday party was taking place, authorities said. Hundreds of people were seen streaming out of the building moments later, some described by witnesses as holding their hands above their heads and even diving for cover behind cars in a parking lot.
“Up to three people entered the building and opened fire on people inside the building,” Burguan said at a news conference some three hours after the first call went out. “The suspects have fled, potentially in a dark-colored SUV.
“They came prepared to do what they did as if on a mission,” he added. The incident lasted less then five minutes, police said.
“They came prepared to do what they did as if on a mission.”
— San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan
Burguan said preliminary information showed 14 people were killed, and police later said 17 were injured.
It was unclear where the suspects may have been during the nearly four hours following the attack, but they did not get far. There were reports that one may have been at the facility earlier, possibly to verify the presence of someone targeted for death, only to return with two more gunmen to unleash horror. Another report, in the Los Angeles Times, had the man getting into an argument at the party and returning with armed henchmen.
[Read the full story here, at Fox News]
Police executed a search warrant Wednesday evening at a home in nearby Redlands, but it was not clear if it was related to the case.
The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were on the scene, some 60 miles east of Los Angeles. An FBI spokesman said it was not clear whether the incident was terror related. No weapons were recovered.
.@SanBernardinoPD has confirmed 1to3 possible suspects.Multiple victims. #SBCSD &other agencies assisting. More info to come. #SanBernardino
— SB County Sheriff (@sbcountysheriff) December 2, 2015
Employees, who undergo monthly training drills to prepare for active shooter situations, initially thought the incident was a drill, according to the Los Angeles Times. But when real bullets flew, several hid in closets, barricaded themselves in rooms or fled for their lives. Read the rest of this entry »
¡Qué lástima! SF Sheriff Loses Re-Election Bid Amid ‘Sanctuary City’ Controversy
Posted: November 3, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, Crime, Immigration, Jeh Johnson, Mexico, Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco, Sanctuary city, U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Leave a comment
In this Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, photo, San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi answers questions during an interview in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Embattled San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi convincingly lost his bid for re-election Tuesday after spending months in the national spotlight as the face of his city’s controversial “sanctuary city” policy on illegal immigration.
Mirkarimi, 54, was defeated by Vicki Hennessy, a former sheriff’s official who had the endorsement of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the sheriff deputies association. With 42 percent of precincts reporting, Henessy had received 63 percent of the vote to 31 percent for Mirkarimi.
Mirkarimi and his office received heavy criticism after Mexican illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle on San Francisco’s waterfront July 1. Sanchez had been released from Mirkarimi’s jail in March even though federal immigration officials had requested that he be detained for possible deportation. Read the rest of this entry »
Women’s Rights: My Body My Choice
Posted: October 24, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Guns and Gadgets, Health and Social Issues, Politics, Self Defense | Tags: Bill of Rights, Choice, Civil Rights, Crime, Feminism, Gun control, Gun laws, Gun rights, Gun safety, Second Amendment, Self-defense Leave a comment
Dem Obstructionists Filibuster: Senate Blocks Bill Cutting Funds for #SanctuaryCities, 54-45
Posted: October 20, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Health and Social Issues, Law & Justice, Mediasphere | Tags: Activism, Crime, CSPAN, Democrats, Funding, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Open Borders, Progressivism, Sanctuary Cities, Sanctuary Cities Bill, Sanctuary city, Twitter Leave a comment
Saudi Prince Arrested in Gated L.A. Compound for Alleged Sexual Assault
Posted: September 25, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption | Tags: Associated Press, Baseball bat, Crime, Drive-by shooting, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Times, Medical state, South Los Angeles, The Police, The Times Leave a comment
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud, 28, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of forced copulation with an adult.
Ryan Gajewski & Natalie Stone report: A Saudi prince was arrested at a gated Los Angeles compound after allegedly trying to coerce a worker in the home into performing a sex act on him, Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud, 28, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of forced copulation with an adult, a Los Angeles Police spokesperson told THR. The Los Angeles Times was first to report the news. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] THE PANTSUIT REPORT: State Spokesman Refuses to Say Whether Clinton Followed Rules With Private Email
Posted: August 31, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Mediasphere, Politics, White House | Tags: Barack Obama, Classified Documents, Crime, Criminal record, Florida, Foggy Bottom, Hillary Clinton, Personal Email Server, The Pantsuit Report, The Washington Free Beacon, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of State Leave a comment
In a briefing Monday, State Department spokesman Mark Toner refused to say whether Hillary Clinton…(read more)
Source: Washington Free Beacon
Gavin Andresen on Why Bitcoin Will Become Unreliable Next Year Without an Urgent Fix
Posted: August 29, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere, Science & Technology, Think Tank | Tags: Autopackage, Bitcoin, Block size (cryptography), Contract, Crime, Currency, Electronic money, Payment system, Technology Review, Visa Inc. Leave a comment
The man who took over stewardship of Bitcoin from its mysterious inventor says the currency is in serious trouble.
Tom Simonite reports: The way things are going, the digital currency Bitcoin will start to malfunction early next year. Transactions will become increasingly delayed, and the system of money now worth $3.3 billion will begin to die as its flakiness drives people away. So says Gavin Andresen, who in 2010 was designated chief caretaker of the code that powers Bitcoin by its shadowy creator. Andresen held the role of “core maintainer” during most of Bitcoin’s improbable rise; he stepped down last year but still remains heavily involved with the currency (see “The Man Who Really Built Bitcoin”).
Andresen’s gloomy prediction stems from the fact that Bitcoin can’t process more than seven transactions a second. That’s a tiny volume compared to the tens of thousands per second that payment systems like Visa can handle—and a limit he expects to start crippling Bitcoin early in 2016. It stems from the maximum size of the “blocks” that are added to the digital ledger of Bitcoin transactions, the blockchain, by people dubbed miners who run software that confirms Bitcoin transactions and creates new Bitcoin (see “What Bitcoin Is and Why It Matters”).
[Read the full text here, at MIT Technology Review]
Andresen’s proposed solution triggered an uproar among people who use or work with Bitcoin when he introduced it two weeks ago. Rather than continuing to work with the developers who maintain Bitcoin’s code, Andresen released his solution in the form of an alternative version of the Bitcoin software called BitcoinXT and urged the community to switch over. If 75 percent of miners have adopted his fix after January 11, 2016, it will trigger a two-week grace period and then allow a “fork” of the blockchain with higher capacity. Critics consider that to be a reckless toying with Bitcoin’s future; Andresen, who now works on Bitcoin with the support of MIT’s Media Lab, says it is necessary to prevent the currency strangling itself. He spoke with MIT Technology Review’s San Francisco bureau chief, Tom Simonite.
How serious is the problem of Bitcoin’s limited transaction rate?
It is urgent. Looking at the transaction volume on the Bitcoin network, we need to address it within the next four or five months. As we get closer and closer to the limit, bad things start to happen. Networks close to capacity get congested and unreliable. If you want reliability, you’ll have to start paying higher and higher fees on transactions, and there will be a point where fees get high enough that people stop using Bitcoin. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Another Grim Milestone’: Fatal Shooting In N.E. Baltimore Is City’s 200th Homicide
Posted: August 10, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Baltimore, Crime, homicide, murder Leave a comment
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Another grim milestone for the city. What appears to be a fatal shooting in Northeast Baltimore is the city’s 200th homicide of 2015.
It happened in the 2700 block of The Alameda near Kennedy Avenue.
Details are still coming into WJZ, but we do know a man was shot and that homicide detectives are on the scene….(read more)
128-Years to Life: Family of 5-Year-Old Killed by Gang Member React to Sentencing
Posted: July 21, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption | Tags: ABC7, Arraignment, Crime, Gang Member, media, murder, news, Prison, Robert Holguin, Twitter 1 Comment
The family of 5-yr-old who was killed by gang member react to the 128-year sentence handed down to killer. Story at 4 pic.twitter.com/ybA80LuOGa
— Robert Holguin (@ABC7Robert) July 21, 2015
Leonard Hall – convicted of fatally shooting a 5-year-old boy on Halloween 2010 – sentenced to 128 years to life.
— Robert Holguin (@ABC7Robert) July 21, 2015
Japan: Elderly Crimes Exceed Teen Crimes?
Posted: July 17, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Japan | Tags: An Jung-geun, BBC News, Crime, crime statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Japan, Juvenile delinquency, Kyodo News, National Police Agency (Japan), Old age, South Korea, Violent crime Leave a comment
Over 23,000 criminal seniors busted this year
Police in Japan have dealt with more elderly crime than juvenile crime in the past six months, it’s reported.
It’s the first time that people over the age of 65 have surpassed teenagers in crime statistics since 1989, when Japan’s National Police Agency started publishing age-related crime data, the Kyodo News Agency reports. Officers took action against more than 23,000 elderly people in the first half of the year, compared to fewer than 20,000 youngsters aged between 14 and 19, officials figures show.
Japan has seen a fall in overall crime rates over the past 10 years, but not among its growing elderly population. The new figures show that violent crime committed by the over-65s rose by more than 10% compared to the same period last year. Of the country’s 127 million people, more than a quarter are now of retirement age, but the government has warned that the figure is likely to grow significantly in the coming decades. Read the rest of this entry »
NYC Stop-and-Frisk Plunges as Crime Climbs
Posted: June 5, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice | Tags: Adrian Schoolcraft, Arraignment, Arrest, Brooklyn, Crime, Daily News (New York), Federal Firearms License, Gun control, New York City, New York City Police Department, Police commissioner, Police officer, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, William J. Bratton 3 Comments
New York City Murders Are On The Rise
Rocco Parascandola, Kerry Burke, Larry McShane report: A dramatic drop in stop-and-frisk encounters has emboldened criminals and made cops more reluctant to take proactive police action, even as murders and shootings are on the rise in the city.
“Everyone is afraid to make stops. No one wants to get jammed up. They’re telling us the stops have to be quality stops. But if you make a stop, and you think it’s a good one, and the guy has nothing on him, is that a good stop?”
— Brooklyn police supervisor
The frightening message — echoed by police supervisors and union leaders — comes as stop-and-frisk encounters are on pace to plunge by 42% this year, with 20,000 fewer street stops.
“What you’re seeing now are the perps carrying their guns because they’re not afraid to carry them. We’ve created an atmosphere where we’ve handcuffed the police. We are sitting back, taking a less proactive approach.”
— Ed Mullins, head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association
There were 11,652 stops across the city through June 3 — projecting to roughly 28,000 for the year, records obtained by the Daily News show. As the number of stops fell, the number of murders spiked 19.5% during the first five months of the year, the number of people shot is up 9.2% and the number of shooting incidents jumped 9%.
“Based on this year’s drop…absent any other factor, you have to ask the question: Are the cops now reluctant to engage?”
“What you’re seeing now are the perps carrying their guns because they’re not afraid to carry them,” said Ed Mullins, head of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. “We’ve created an atmosphere where we’ve handcuffed the police. We are sitting back, taking a less proactive approach.”
Joe Marino for New York Daily News
“Stop-and-frisk activists say criminals are no longer afraid to carry guns because cops are afraid to make stops.”
Mullins said the city’s criminal element has been operating without fear while cops have been somewhat neutered in the last two years — and he wasn’t the only one to raise the issue.
“Based on this year’s drop . . . absent any other factor, you have to ask the question: Are the cops now reluctant to engage?” wondered one high-ranking police source.
Seth Wenig/AP
Critics of the NYPD told The News there was no correlation between the two sets of numbers — while stop-and-frisk supporters said the lower frisk numbers led to the higher crime figures.
City cops, citing increased scrutiny from the NYPD’s inspector general, the state attorney general and City Hall, say the cutback on stops is about self-preservation. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Nationwide Crime Wave
Posted: May 30, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, Think Tank | Tags: Al Sharpton, Broken windows theory, City Journal (New York), Crime, Eric Holder, Ferguson, Investor-state dispute settlement, Los Angeles, Mahoning County, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Missouri, New York City Police Department 2 Comments
The consequences of the ‘Ferguson effect’ are already appearing. The main victims of growing violence will be the inner-city poor
Heather Mac Donald writes: The nation’s two-decades-long crime decline may be over. Gun violence in particular is spiraling upward in cities across America. In Baltimore, the most pressing question every 
morning is how many people were shot the previous night.
[Heather Mac Donald is the author of “Are Cops Racist?“, available at Amazon.com]
Gun violence is up more than 60% compared with this time last year, according to Baltimore police, with 32 shootings over Memorial Day weekend. May has been the most violent month the city has seen in 15 years.
“President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, before he stepped down last month, embraced the conceit that law enforcement in black communities is infected by bias.”
Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.
“Contrary to the claims of the ‘black lives matter’ movement, no government policy in the past quarter century has done more for urban reclamation than proactive policing. Data-driven enforcement, in conjunction with stricter penalties for criminals and ‘broken windows’ policing has saved thousands of black lives, brought lawful commerce and jobs to once drug-infested neighborhoods and allowed millions to go about their daily lives without fear.”
Those citywide statistics from law-enforcement officials mask even more startling neighborhood-level increases. Shooting incidents are up 500% in an East Harlem precinct compared with last year; in a South Central Los Angeles police division, shooting victims are up 100%.
“Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.”
By contrast, the first six months of 2014 continued a 20-year pattern of growing public safety. Violent crime in the first half of last year dropped 4.6% nationally and property crime was down 7.5%. Though comparable national figures for the first half of 2015 won’t be available for another year, the January through June 2014 crime decline is unlikely to be repeated.
“Since last summer, the airwaves have been dominated by suggestions that the police are the biggest threat facing young black males today.”
The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months. Read the rest of this entry »
Oregon Sheriff: Gun Control Push ‘Borderline Treasonous,’ Will Not Enforce
Posted: April 5, 2015 Filed under: Law & Justice, Self Defense | Tags: Background check, Board of Education, Brady Campaign, Civil Rights, Colorado, Crime, Floyd Prozanski, Fort Hood, Gun politics, Gun rights, Seattle Pacific University, Second Amendment 2 Comments
AWR Hawkins. reports: While Oregon Democrats stood with Gabby Giffords and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to push expanded background checks on April 1, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer stood for the law-abiding citizens whom the checks will target by describing the gun control push as “borderline treasonous.”
Palmer also made clear that if the Democrats pass the measure there is zero chance of his office enforcing it.
Breitbart News previously reported that the push for expanded background checks in Oregon is being spearheaded by state (D-Eugene). His efforts are strongly supported by the Brady Campaign and Giffords.
Giffords, in particular, believes every potential gun purchaser should have to pass the same background check her attacker passed to acquire his firearm, which the same background check Jerad and Amanda Miller (Las Vegas), Aaron Ybarra (Seattle Pacific University), Elliot Rodger (Santa Barbara), Ivan Lopez (Fort Hood 2014), Darion Marcus Aguilar (Maryland mall), Karl Halverson Pierson (Arapahoe High School), James Holmes (Aurora theater), Nidal Hasan (Fort Hood 2009), and many, many others passed to get the guns they used in their crimes. Read the rest of this entry »
Two Found Dead in Possible Murder-Suicide in Beverly Hills
Posted: February 25, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Beverly Hills, Crime, Investigation, media, murder, news, Suicide 1 Comment
Cartoon of the Day: Ramirez
Posted: December 30, 2014 Filed under: Comics, Crime & Corruption, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere | Tags: Crime, Editorial cartoon, LAPD, Law Enforcement, Michael Ramirez, NYPD, Police 1 Comment
Bill Cosby’s Legacy, Recast
Posted: November 22, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Health and Social Issues, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Allegations, Bill Cosby, Crime, drugs, Playboy, Rape, Sexual assault, Show Business, The Cosby Show, The Washington Post 1 Comment
A long and troubling article about Bill Cosby…
[PHOTO] of the Night
Posted: October 23, 2014 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Crime, Ferguson, Hands up don't shoot, Law Enforcement, Looting, Photography, protests, Riots, Twitter Leave a comment
New Detective: ‘Blood On My Doorstep’
Posted: September 24, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Comics, Mediasphere | Tags: Babes, Book Cover, Crime, design, Egypt, graphics, Helpless Women, hostage, Illustration, Magazine, New Detective, Rafael DeSoto, typography Leave a comment
‘RAPE CULTURE’: 240-Pound Seattle Woman Broke into Apartment and Raped Sleeping Man
Posted: September 13, 2014 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Arrest warrant, Chantae Gilman, Crime, DNA, Gilman, KOMO-TV, Rape, Seattle Leave a commentChantae Gilman is accused of breaking into a Seattle man’s apartment and raping him as he slept off a party during a 2013 incident. A warrant for Gilman’s arrest was issued after DNA allegedly linked her to the crime
Nichole Hensley reports: A Seattle woman is accused of raping her neighbor as he slept after a party. The victim shoved the 240-pound woman, later identified as 26-year-old Chantae Gilman, off of him when he woke up to her having sex with him, according to the Seattle P-I.
“In the past, Gilman had been treated for mental health issues and drug abuse. She’s also pleaded guilty in 2006 and 2008 to criminal charges, court records show.”
She apparently broke into the 31-year-old’s apartment on June 16, 2013 after a birthday party. It wasn’t until recently that a sample of DNA taken from the victim was analyzed.
Gilman was linked to the crime, but she is apparently undergoing drug treatment, a neighbor told KOMO-TV.
A Facebook page that appears to belong to Gilman frequently notes her sporadic sobriety.
“I’ve got 2 months pregnant and I’m 31 weeks pregnant,” Gilman apparently wrote on Aug. 5.
An arrest warrant was issued for Gilman, a mother of four other children who is reportedly pregnant with another child. Read the rest of this entry »
Dead Men Don’t Talk: Headline of the Day
Posted: August 29, 2014 Filed under: Humor, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Crime, headlines, homicide, Local news, Police Leave a comment
Department of Not Surprised Announcement: Chicago Crime Rate Drops as Concealed Carry Gun Permit Applications Surge
Posted: August 25, 2014 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Self Defense, U.S. News | Tags: 2nd amendment, Chicago, Concealed carry in the United States, Crime, Gun rights, Illinois, Police, Richard Pearson, Self-defense, Washington Times 1 Comment
City of Chicago sees fewer homicides, robberies, burglaries, car thefts as Illinois residents take arms
Kelly Riddell for The Washington Times: An 86-year-old Illinois man with a concealed carry permit fired his weapon at an armed robbery suspect fleeing police last month, stopping the man in his tracks and allowing the police to make an arrest.
“It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect.”
— Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.
Chicago’s finest not thrilled about law-abiding citizens exercising constitutional rights without their permission
Law enforcement authorities described the man as “a model citizen” who “helped others avoid being victims” at an AT&T store outside Chicago where he witnessed the holdup. The man, whose identity was withheld from the press, prevented 
others from entering the store during the theft.
“There’s a lot of academic research that’s been done on this, and if you look at the peer-reviewed studies, the bottom line is a large majority find a benefit of concealed carry on crime rates — and, at worst, there’s no cost.”
— John Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center
Police said the robber harassed customers and pistol-whipped one.
Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and motor vehicle theft are down 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In the first quarter, the city’s homicide rate was at a 56-year low.
“It isn’t any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don’t know who’s armed and who isn’t has a deterrence effect,” said Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. “The police department hasn’t changed a single tactic — they haven’t announced a shift in policy or of course — and yet you have these incredible numbers.” Read the rest of this entry »
Criminal Advocacy
Posted: August 3, 2014 Filed under: Humor, Politics, Self Defense | Tags: Crime, Democrats, First Amendment, Gotham, Gun control, Phobias, The Dark Knight, The Joker Leave a comment
Andrew C. McCarthy Schools Paul Ryan
Posted: July 30, 2014 Filed under: Education, Mediasphere, Think Tank, White House | Tags: Andrew C. McCarthy, Barack Obama, Crime, Democratic Party, High crimes and misdemeanours, National Review, Obama, Republicans, White House Leave a comment
“Such misconduct need not be an indictable wrong. It could involve dereliction of duty, lies to Congress or the public about serious matters, the failure to honor an oath.”
For National Review Online, Andrew C. McCarthy writes:
…Today, according to the Wall Street Journal, it was Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s turn. On impeachment, Ryan reportedly said:
I see this as sort of a ridiculous gambit by the president and his political team to try and change the narrative, raise money, and turn out their base for an upcoming election that they feel is not going to go their way… [The Republicans’ differences with the White House do] not rise to the high crime and misdemeanor level.
Wrong. To repeat, “high crimes and misdemeanors,” a British term of art borrowed by the Framers, does not refer to penal offenses. It refers to what Hamilton called “the misconduct of public men, or in other words . . . the abuse or violation of some public trust.” Such misconduct need not be an indictable wrong. It could involve dereliction of duty, lies to Congress or the public about serious matters, the failure to honor an oath (such as the oath to execute the laws faithfully), and any conduct that intentionally undermines the governing framework that safeguards our liberties and security (the president, of course, takes an oath to preserve the Constitution).
- The border is being overrun and the president, far from taking action to stop it, is encouraging it.
- Illegal aliens are being smuggled throughout the country by the federal government without notice to the states.
- The president refuses to enforce the immigration laws. The president is usurping the power of Congress to confer federal benefits on aliens.
- The president is unilaterally rewriting Obamacare, the drug laws, and other congressional statutes that are inconvenient to him.
- The president willfully lied to the country to get Obamacare enacted and to get reelected.
- The commander-in-chief took no meaningful action to protect Americans before and during the terrorist siege of Benghazi, and then he and his administration willfully lied to the country about the cause of the massacre in order to get reelected.
- The president has used the federal bureaucracy to harass and punish his political opponents. Evidence of the IRS’s wrongdoing has been destroyed.
- Evidence about the Justice Department’s Fast & Furious scandal, which resulted in the murder of a Border Patrol agent, has been withheld from Congress — with the attorney general held in contempt.
- The VA cooked its books to conceal the mistreatment of our veterans, some of whom died.
It is perfectly understandable — indeed, it is wise — for Republicans to explain that there is no prospect of removing President Obama from power because you’d need lots of Democratic votes in the Senate and the Democrats will protect President Obama no matter how lawlessly he conducts himself. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 