I solved the February 20, 2023 Wordle in just two guesses!
I solved the February 20, 2023 Wordle in just two guesses!
My guesses were STRAP and SWEAT.
Here’s a screenshot:
I support meritocracy because I want Jackie Robinson’s name to be spelled correctly
On March 13, 2017, the New York Times wrote:
“The Board of Regents on Monday eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in New York State pass a literacy test to become certified after the test proved controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates.”
On February 26, 2023, the New York City affiliate of ABC News wrote:
“Jackie Robinson Parkway sign goes up with spelling mistake”
Source: https://abc7ny.com/nyc-jackie-robinson-parkway-misspelled-sign-queens/12885986/
Here’s a photograph of the sign in question. Source of image: https://nypost.com/2023/02/26/nyc-dot-strikes-out-with-jakie-robinson-parkway-sign/
I support meritocracy because I want Jackie Robinson’s name to be spelled correctly.
I asked ChatGPT: Why do people wear Che Guevara t-shirts?
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 26, 2023
I recently had the following conversation with ChatGPT:
Me: Why do people wear Che Guevara t-shirts?
ChatGPT: People wear Che Guevara t-shirts for various reasons. Some wear them as a symbol of rebellion or as a way to express their political views. Che Guevara was an important figure in the Cuban Revolution and is viewed as a hero by many left-wing and anti-capitalist activists. The image of Guevara, often depicted wearing a beret and with a determined expression, has become a symbol of revolution and resistance for some people. However, it is worth noting that Che Guevara’s legacy is a controversial one, with some critics pointing to his violent methods and authoritarian tendencies.
Me: A hero? He personally executed many people without a trial. He was a serial killer.
ChatGPT: Che Guevara is a controversial figure and opinions about him vary widely. Some people view him as a revolutionary hero who fought for social justice and against imperialism, while others see him as a brutal oppressor who committed atrocities in the name of ideology.
It is true that Guevara played a role in executing individuals without trial during his time as a revolutionary in Cuba. These executions were part of a wider campaign to consolidate power and suppress opposition, and are often cited as evidence of Guevara’s brutal tactics.
Despite this, many people continue to wear Che Guevara t-shirts and other merchandise as a symbol of resistance against oppression and imperialism. To these individuals, Guevara represents a spirit of defiance and rebellion against unjust systems of power.
Me: What does killing innocent people have to do with “social justice”?
ChatGPT: Killing innocent people does not have anything to do with “social justice.” “Social justice” refers to the fair distribution of resources and opportunities in society, and the recognition and protection of the rights of all individuals, regardless of their background or social status. Engaging in acts of violence or terrorism, regardless of one’s ideology or beliefs, can never be justified as a means of achieving social justice. It is important to work towards social justice through peaceful and constructive means, such as advocacy, education, and community engagement.
Me: It was you, not me, who used that phrase. I was just quoting what you had already said.
ChatGPT: I apologize for any confusion. To clarify, my previous statement was in reference to the importance of treating all individuals with inherent worth and dignity, regardless of their actions or behavior. It was not meant to justify or condone the actions of individuals who engage in violence or harm others.
Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says
https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a
Lab Leak Most Likely Origin of Covid-19 Pandemic, Energy Department Now Says
U.S. agency’s revised assessment is based on new intelligence
By Michael R. Gordon and Warren P. Strobel
February 26, 2023
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress.
The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office.
The new report highlights how different parts of the intelligence community have arrived at disparate judgments about the pandemic’s origin. The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided.
The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.
The Energy Department made its judgment with “low confidence,” according to people who have read the classified report.
The FBI previously came to the conclusion that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak in 2021 with “moderate confidence” and still holds to this view.
The FBI employs a cadre of microbiologists, immunologists and other scientists and is supported by the National Bioforensic Analysis Center, which was established at Fort Detrick, Md., in 2004 to analyze anthrax and other possible biological threats.
U.S. officials declined to give details on the fresh intelligence and analysis that led the Energy Department to change its position. They added that while the Energy Department and the FBI each say an unintended lab leak is most likely, they arrived at those conclusions for different reasons.
The updated document underscores how intelligence officials are still putting together the pieces on how Covid-19 emerged. More than one million Americans have died in the pandemic that began more than three years ago.
The National Intelligence Council, which conducts long-term strategic analysis, and four agencies, which officials declined to identify, still assess with “low confidence” that the virus came about through natural transmission from an infected animal, according to the updated report.
The Central Intelligence Agency and another agency that officials wouldn’t name remain undecided between the lab-leak and natural-transmission theories, the people who have read the classified report said.
Despite the agencies’ differing analyses, the update reaffirmed an existing consensus between them that Covid-19 wasn’t the result of a Chinese biological-weapons program, the people who have read the classified report said.
A senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed that the intelligence community had conducted the update, whose existence hasn’t previously been reported. This official added that it was done in light of new intelligence, further study of academic literature and consultation with experts outside government.
The update, which is less than five pages, wasn’t requested by Congress. But lawmakers, particularly House and Senate Republicans, are pursuing their own investigations into the origins of the pandemic and are pressing the Biden administration and the intelligence community for more information.
Officials didn’t say if an unclassified version of the update would be issued.
U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan declined to confirm or deny the Journal’s reporting in an appearance Sunday on CNN. He said President Biden had repeatedly directed every part of the intelligence community to invest in trying to discern as much as possible about the origins of the pandemic.
“President Biden specifically requested that the national labs, which are part of the Energy Department, be brought into this assessment because he wants to put every tool at use to be able to figure out what happened here,” Mr. Sullivan said.
There are a “variety of views in the intelligence community,” Mr. Sullivan added. “A number of them have said they just don’t have enough information.”
Asked about the Energy Department’s assessment, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R., Ala.) said Sunday on NBC that Congress needed to hold extensive hearings concerning the origins of the pandemic, adding that China has sought to intimidate other countries from questioning whether the virus emerged naturally. “This is a country that has no problem coming out and lying to the world,” he said.
The Covid-19 virus first circulated in Wuhan, China, no later than November 2019, according to the U.S. 2021 intelligence report. The pandemic’s origin has been the subject of vigorous, sometimes partisan debate among academics, intelligence experts and lawmakers.
David Relman, a Stanford University microbiologist who has argued for a dispassionate investigation into the pandemic’s beginnings, welcomed word of the updated findings.
“Kudos to those who are willing to set aside their preconceptions and objectively re-examine what we know and don’t know about Covid origins,” said Dr. Relman, who has served on several federal scientific-advisory boards. “My plea is that we not accept an incomplete answer or give up because of political expediency.”
An Energy Department spokesman declined to discuss details of its assessment but wrote in a statement that the agency “continues to support the thorough, careful, and objective work of our intelligence professionals in investigating the origins of COVID-19, as the President directed.”
The FBI declined to comment.
China, which has placed limits on investigations by the World Health Organization, has disputed that the virus could have leaked from one of its labs and has suggested it emerged outside China.
The Chinese government didn’t respond to requests for comment about whether there has been any change in its views on the origins of Covid-19.
Some scientists argue that the virus probably emerged naturally and leapt from an animal to a human, the same pathway for outbreaks of previously unknown pathogens.
Intelligence analysts who have supported that view give weight to “the precedent of past novel infectious disease outbreaks having zoonotic origins,” the flourishing trade in a diverse set of animals that are susceptible to such infections, and their conclusion that Chinese officials didn’t have foreknowledge of the virus, the 2021 report said.
Yet no confirmed animal source for Covid-19 has been identified. The lack of an animal source, and the fact that Wuhan is the center of China’s extensive coronavirus research, has led some scientists and U.S. officials to argue that a lab leak is the best explanation for the pandemic’s beginning.
U.S. State Department cables written in 2018 and internal Chinese documents show that there were persistent concerns about China’s biosafety procedures, which have been cited by proponents of the lab-leak hypothesis.
Wuhan is home to an array of laboratories, many of which were built or expanded as a result of China’s traumatic experience with the initial severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, epidemic beginning in 2002. They include campuses of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, which produces vaccines.
An outbreak at a seafood market in Wuhan had initially been thought to be the source of the virus, but some scientists and Chinese public-health officials now see it as an example of community spread rather than the place where the first human infection occurred, the 2021 intelligence community report said.
In May 2021, President Biden told the intelligence community to step up its efforts to investigate the origins of Covid-19 and directed that the review draw on work by the U.S.’s national laboratories and other agencies. Congress, he said, would be kept informed of that effort.
The October 2021 report said that there was a consensus that Covid-19 wasn’t the result of a Chinese biological-weapons program. But it didn’t settle the debate over whether it resulted from a lab leak or came from an animal, saying that more information was needed from the Chinese authorities.
The U.S. intelligence community is made up of 18 agencies, including offices at the Energy, State and Treasury departments. Eight of them participated in the Covid-origins review, along with the National Intelligence Council.
Before that report, the Energy Department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory prepared a study in May 2020 concluding that a lab-leak hypothesis was plausible and deserved further investigation.
The debate over whether Covid-19 might have escaped from a laboratory has been fueled by U.S. intelligence that three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care.
A House Intelligence Committee report concluded last year that this disclosure didn’t strengthen either the lab-leak or the natural-origin theory as the researchers might have become sick with a seasonal flu. But some former U.S. officials say the sick researchers were involved in coronavirus research.
Lawmakers have sought to find out more about why the FBI assesses a lab leak was likely. In an Aug. 1 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, requested that the FBI share the records of its investigation and asked if the bureau had briefed Mr. Biden on its findings.
In a Nov. 18 letter, FBI Assistant Director Jill Tyson said the agency couldn’t share those details because of Justice Department policy on preserving “the integrity of ongoing investigations.” She referred the senator to Ms. Haines’s office for information on what briefings were arranged for the president.
Roald Dahl warned ‘politically correct’ publishers – ‘change one word and deal with my crocodile’
Roald Dahl warned ‘politically correct’ publishers – ‘change one word and deal with my crocodile’
Children’s author threatened to strike if editors changed ‘a single comma’ of his writing and claimed ‘Marx and Lenin’ were responsible
By Patrick Sawer
25 February 2023
Roald Dahl threatened to never write another word if his publishers ever changed his language, promising to send his “Enormous Crocodile” to gobble them up if they did so.
The writer’s fury at the prospect of publishers censoring his books has emerged in the wake of the row over Puffin altering several passages from his famous children’s stories.
Dahl made his comments 40 years ago, in a recorded conversation with his friend Francis Bacon, the painter, in which he anticipated the impact that “political correctness” might have on his work.
He told Bacon: “I’ve warned my publishers that if they later on so much as change a single comma in one of my books, they will never see another word from me. Never! Ever!”
In the recording, the writer, who had Norwegian roots, added: “When I am gone, if that happens, then I’ll wish mighty Thor knocks very hard on their heads with his Mjolnir. Or I will send along the Enormous Crocodile to gobble them up.”
Dahl’s comments emerged after Puffin announced on Friday that it will reissue his books in their uncensored form, following the backlash over its decision to alter key sections.
The Telegraph revealed that hundreds of changes had been made to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and more than a dozen other titles, removing many descriptions relating to weight, mental health and gender to minimise offence.
The backlash saw the decision criticised by many, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Salman Rushide, along with an intervention by the Queen. She urged authors to write “unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression”.
In their conversation, recorded by Bacon’s friend Barry Joule in 1982 at Dahl’s home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, Bacon tells the children’s writer: “There must be no changes to an artist’s original work when he is dead for any reason whatsoever.”
Dahl, who died eight years later, aged 74, replies: “I just hope to God that will never happen to any of my writings as I am lying comfortably in my Viking grave.”
Joule regularly recorded his conversations with Bacon and had been fortunate enough to transcribe the one chronicling the encounter with Dahl shortly before the tape was inadvertently destroyed.
‘This political correctness rubbish’
The encounter at Great Missenden followed the publication of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and, during their conversation, he anticipates future rows over his colourful and evocative language.
Joule told The Guardian: “Fully puffed up on the subject, [Dahl] informed us, ‘You know, it was Marx and Lenin who commenced this political correctness rubbish way back in 1917, and by God it’s creeping into this country.’
“He suddenly grabbed my copy and roughly flipped through several pages to where the right-hand side featured a fine comical drawing by Quentin Blake of Miss Red Riding Hood wearing a heavy wolfskin coat.
“‘For instance, look here – knickers!’ he exclaimed [at the line ‘She whips a pistol from her knickers’] and pressed his forefinger fingernail under the eight letters so hard an imprint was left behind … noting, ‘I suppose if the Political Correctness Police could get a hold of that, they’d change in an instant the filthy word to “ladies underwear apparel”!’ Francis frowned, then grinned widely at such an outrageous possibility.”
The “Enormous Crocodile” mentioned by Dahl in his threat was a reference to one of his most famous characters, “a horrid greedy grumptious brute” who “wants to eat something juicy and delicious”.
In Pine Hills, Florida, three people were murdered, because the progressive, bleeding heart, social justice warriors refused to lock up a violent serial criminal named Keith Melvin Moses
Keith Melvin Moses is a violent serial criminal who lives in Pine Hills, Florida.
This is his arrest record. Note that he was never sentenced to prison for any of these crimes:
January 2018
Grand theft of a motor vehicle (sentenced to community control for one year)
Battery (sentenced to community control for one year)
March 2018
Battery (sentenced to community control for one year)
April 2018
Resisting officer without violence (sentenced to community control for one year)
Unarmed burglary of an unoccupied conveyance (charge dismissed)
Grand theft $300-$500 (charge dismissed)
June 2018
Resisting officer without violence (sentenced to community control for one year and community service)
October 2018
Battery (charge dismissed)
Attempted robbery with a firearm (sentenced to “low-risk residential restrictive commitment”)
February 2020
Unarmed burglary of occupied conveyance (charge dropped)
Grand theft $300-$500 (charge dropped)
Wow. That’s a lot of crimes.
But the progressive, bleeding heart, social justice warriors made sure that he never got sentenced to any time in prison.
Because the progressive, bleeding heart, social justice warriors made sure that he never got sentenced to any time in prison, he murdered three people.
You can read more about it in this article.
Here’s what we know about the suspect in the deadly Pine Hills shootings
Keith Melvin Moses, 19, arrested following fatal shooting of 3
By Anthony Talcott and Mike DeForest,
February 22, 2023
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Sheriff John Mina announced Wednesday the arrest of 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses following shootings in Pine Hills that ended in the deaths of a woman, a 9-year-old girl and a Spectrum News 13 journalist.
In a news briefing, Mina stated that a woman, identified as 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin, was found shot to death in the 6100 block of Hialeah Street around 11:20 a.m., though Moses returned to the scene around 4 p.m. and fatally shot a Spectrum News 13 journalist — later identified as 24-year-old Dylan Lyons — and photographer, Jesse Walden, who were covering the homicide.
Deputies said Moses then walked up Harrington Street and entered into a home, where he shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter, T’yonna Major, who died.
https://twitter.com/OrangeCoSheriff/status/1628577832426258439
Mina said during a news conference Thursday Moses was found with the help of witnesses and he was uncooperative with deputies. Mina said they found on Moses a Glock-40 semi-automatic handgun, which was still warm to the touch.
Moses claimed he was injured and was taken to an area hospital, where he said he couldn’t breathe. Mina said he fought with hospital staff and deputies had to restrain him again.
Mina said he would not cooperate with deputies during initial interviews and pretended to be asleep, then began to resist deputies again and had to be subdued. He’s currently in the Orange County Jail.
Mina said that there was no information on whether Moses knew that the journalist and photographer were with the news media. Instead, Mina said that it was possible that Moses mistook the journalist and photographer for law enforcement.
“(The news vehicle) was almost exactly in the same spot as the vehicle was from the homicide this morning,” Mina said. “So it’s unclear why exactly they were a target, and we’re certainly going to look into that.”
Mina added that Moses was an acquaintance of Augustin, who was killed in the morning. A witness said Moses “seemed down” before the shooting, Mina said.
Mina said they are also still trying to find out if there was a connection between Moses and the mother and child who were shot.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Moses was arrested multiple times spanning all the way back to 2018, when Moses was still 14 years old. Below are the dates of previous arrests and charges that Moses faced.
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Grand theft of a motor vehicle (sentenced to community control for one year)
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Battery (sentenced to community control for one year)
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Battery (sentenced to community control for one year)
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Resisting officer without violence (sentenced to community control for one year)
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Unarmed burglary of an unoccupied conveyance (charge dismissed)
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Grand theft $300-$500 (charge dismissed)
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Resisting officer without violence (sentenced to community control for one year and community service)
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Battery (charge dismissed)
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Attempted robbery with a firearm (sentenced to “low-risk residential restrictive commitment”)
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Unarmed burglary of occupied conveyance (charge dropped)
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Grand theft $300-$500 (charge dropped)
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Court records show that Moses has a long criminal history, but the only charges he faced as an adult were for possessing drug paraphernalia and cannabis in 2021.
During that arrest, deputies said Moses was in a vehicle with two others, all of whom appeared to be smoking cannabis. The car almost struck a deputy patrol vehicle, prompting deputies to pull the car over for a traffic stop, deputies said.
An arrest affidavit shows that as deputies approached the car, a firearm was tossed out of the vehicle’s passenger side into some nearby shrubs.
The driver and both of the passengers — including Moses — were detained, and 4.6 grams of cannabis were found in Moses’ pocket, the affidavit says. Deputies also noted that several ski-mask-style masks were found during the traffic stop.
The state said the amount of marijuana found amounted to only a misdemeanor charge.
Mina stated during Wednesday’s briefing that Moses would be formally charged in Wednesday morning’s homicide, though additional charges are expected for the other shootings.
According to deputies, Moses also has prior firearm possession charges, including aggravated battery, aggravated assault, burglary, grand theft and armed robbery with a firearm. All of those charges occurred when Moses was a juvenile. The outcome of none of these cases can be considered convictions, says Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell.
“So when we say an individual has a certain amount of juvenile arrests with no convictions, that statement is out of context, because there is nowhere in the state of Florida when a child is arrested, that the result of that arrest is a conviction,” Worrell said.
Orange County Corrections Department released the booking photo from Moses’ arrest on Wednesday, along with paperwork showing his first-degree murder charge. Paperwork released alongside the photo shows that Moses waived his first appearance in court due to mental health.
The photographer and mother who were shot remain hospitalized at the time of this writing. News 13′s Asher Wildman announced on social media Wednesday evening that the team member in the hospital was responsive and would undergo further treatments.
https://twitter.com/AsherWildman13/status/1628578625199931397
On Friday, Moses entered a plea of not guilty in response to the first-degree murder charge. More charges are expected.
In St. Louis, a 13-year-old has been arrested for first degree murder. In my opinion, if he’s too young to be tried as an adult, then both of his parents should be charged with first degree murder.
In St. Louis, a 13-year-old has been arrested for first degree murder. In my opinion, if he’s too young to be tried as an adult, then both of his parents should be charged with first degree murder. Someone has to be punished for this. Just because the killer is a minor doesn’t mean that this kind of behavior should be tolerated, or go without serious punishment, such as execution or life in prison without parole. Someone has to pay for this.
In this particular case, the victim is a 38-year-old woman who was driving her car into her garage at her home.
The victim’s 14-year-old daughter was in the front passenger seat when this happened. This 14-year-old girl witnessed her own mother getting murdered. At their own home.
I’m sick of the bleeding hearts, the progressives, and the social justice warriors making up excuses for people who commit first degree murder. If this 13-year-old is guilty of this murder, then either him, or both of his parents, should be executed. And if execution is not a possibility, then at least life in prison with no possibility of parole. And no television either. Why should murderers be allowed to watch television? Someone should have to pay very severely for this murder. If they don’t get executed, then make them break rocks for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for the rest of their lives.
13-year-old boy arrested in deadly attempted carjacking of mom
A 13-year-old boy was arrested in St. Louis County on suspicion of first-degree murder and robbery in connection with the shooting.
By Hayley Vawter
February 24, 2023
ST. LOUIS — A 13-year-old boy is the latest arrest in connection with a suspected attempted carjacking in January that left a woman dead.
On Jan. 24, 38-year-old Kay Johnson was fatally shot while pulling her car into her garage in the 4700 block of Compton Avenue. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johnson’s 14-year-old daughter was in the car with her when she died.
At the time of Johnson’s death, St. Louis police said they believed she was one of several victims in a string of recent attempted or confirmed carjackings.
On Friday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department announced that a 13-year-old boy had been arrested in St. Louis County on suspicion of first-degree murder and robbery in connection with the case.
This comes after a 14-year-old boy was arrested on Jan. 28 in St. Louis County on suspicion of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery in connection to the shooting.
Both teens were being held at the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center.
St. Louis police did not release the names of either of the teens.
On Jan. 25, a car that a police source said was wanted in connection Johnson’s shooting crashed in St. Louis after a police pursuit. Three suspects, ages 16, 17 and 18, were taken into custody after the crash.
11-year-old accrues 19 charges in just over 2 months, says MPD
https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/02/23/11-year-old-accrues-19-charges-just-over-2-months-says-mpd/
11-year-old accrues 19 charges in just over 2 months, says MPD
By Walter Murphy and Lydian Kennin
February 22, 2023
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Records show that one 11-year-old Memphian has been arrested nine times in just over two months for charges including carjacking, theft, burglary, and robbery, just to name a few.
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis addressed City Council Tuesday saying the Memphis Police Department must be able to work with Shelby County Juvenile Court to tackle juvenile crime.
She also told the council that 70% of the kids that are caught stealing vehicles in Memphis are repeat offenders.
“We had a case this week with an 11-year-old,” Chief Davis said. “This is about the fifth or sixth time he’s been in our hands.”
Records obtained from MPD show he’s actually been arrested nine times and has accrued 19 charges so far:
12/02/2022
Arson
12/08/2022
Carjacking
Weapon Law Violations
12/14/2022
Carjacking
Weapon Law Violations
12/15/2022
Robbery of an Individual
Theft of Motor Vehicle
12/20/2022
Robbery of an Individual
12/26/2022
Robbery of an Individual
01/05/2023
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Theft From Motor Vehicle
Vandalism
02/02/2023
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Burglary X3
Theft of Property $10,000-$60,000
02/10/2023
Theft of Motor Vehicle
Burglary of a Business
Davis is requesting that the juvenile courts give MPD’s Real-Time Crime Center access to ankle monitors, which they do not have right now.
It’s unclear whether or not this child was wearing an ankle monitor during any of his alleged crimes.
Black homeschooling families take education into their own hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYTL9LaR0B0
In Denver, the family of a dead 12-year-old armed robber named Elias Armstrong is upset that the victim defended himself. I think the family of Elias Armstrong should have done a better job of raising him.
Family of 12-year-old shot, killed in stolen vehicle speaks out against vehicle owner
By Rob Low
February 23, 2023
DENVER (KDVR) — The family of Elias Armstrong is furious the man who killed the 12-year-old boy won’t face criminal charges.
The boy was found shot to death in a stolen vehicle in the 2900 block of West 10th Avenue on the night of Sunday, Feb. 5.
The vehicle owner, using a phone app, had tracked his stolen vehicle from the 8300 block of East Northfield Boulevard to the area of West 12th Avenue and Decatur Street, where he shot Elias Armstrong.
The 12-year-old then drove the vehicle a few blocks away, where he died from at least two gunshots.
“I think that if he would have just let the police approach the car and he sat back and waited till they got there, that my son would be alive right now. Since he took the law in his own hands, my son is dead because of him, and nothing is going to happen to him but a pat on the hand,” said an emotional Thomas Armstrong, the father of Elias.
Boy’s family shown video of shooting
The Denver District Attorney’s Office announced last week that the truck owner would not face criminal charges because it determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to charge the man with a crime.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Armstrong, who said the man was rewarded for vigilante justice.
The Armstrong family told the Problem Solvers that prosecutors obtained surveillance video and shared it with them to explain the decision not to charge the vehicle owner.
Thomas Armstrong said the footage shows a single bullet was fired from the back of the truck first, before the truck owner allegedly unloaded 15 shots into the vehicle, as one of the three boys inside the vehicle fired back twice.
“And the video, it showed the man with his hand on his gun, running towards them with a real fast speed … you heard one shot, then you just heard him let off 15 rounds into the car,” Thomas Armstrong said.
“The man, when he first pulled up to the car, he’s seen the little boy this tall is standing by his car, running and jumping into the car. He’s seen it was a little boy before any gunplay,” he added.
Thomas Armstrong said investigators told him there were two others boys with his son, both 16 years old, who were also shot but were able to run away.
Armstrong insisted his son was unarmed and that it was one of the two 16-year-olds who must have fired a gun toward the driver, because he said his son was in the front driver seat with his hands on the steering wheel. The shot, Armstrong said, came from the back seat, where the two 16-year-olds were sitting.
FOX31 has not been able to confirm those details.
Other teens under investigation
A Denver Police spokesperson told FOX31 that because detectives have an ongoing investigation involving juveniles, they would not comment or confirm what the Armstrong family told the Problem Solvers.
“I know the car had insurance on it, you know, there’s insurance on his car, but there’s no insurance on my brother’s life to get him back,” said Alicia Henderson, the 29-year-old sister of Elias Armstrong.
Henderson said the vehicle owner should have listened to Denver 911 dispatchers and waited for police to handle the situation instead of taking matters into his own hands.
“So the fact that this man was running up with the gun, showing them that he was very angry, he was going to shoot at them, in my eyes, they (the boys) were defending themselves,” Henderson said.
She is not just upset with the vehicle owner. She said the two teens who were with Elias have refused to talk with investigators.
“And for you guys to leave him there like that, and not even speak on his behalf, it will eat you up for the rest of your life. You’ll never sleep a day without thinking about that. You know, it’s going to hurt you real bad. And I just pray that you guys come forward, because ultimately your story plays a big part of this,” Henderson said.
Thomas Armstrong said his son had overcome a lot of adversity in life, including a liver transplant when he was just 6 months old.
“Elias’s death, it breaks my heart. I just can’t think about him so much, because there’s no coming back and I can’t replace him, and I just pray that he made it to heaven.”
Vehicle owner’s name has not been released
The vehicle owner has not been identified, and it’s unlikely that he will be since he does not face criminal charges.
That angers the Armstrong family, who say they want to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the man but are being stymied by prosecutors and police who refuse to release the man’s name.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann released the following statement to FOX31:
“My heart goes out to Elias Armstrong’s family in this time of terrible and overwhelming grief. I met with members of his family last week along with the DPD detective and members of my office to explain why a criminal case could not be brought based on the facts. The DA’s Office can only file charges when guilt can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In this instance, we cannot file charges because of self-defense issues which were present at the time.”
– Denver District Attorney Beth McCann
Alicia Henderson has created a GoFundMe page to help cover her brother’s funeral expenses.
Visitation is on Friday, Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Pipkin Braswell Chapel Of Peace at 6601 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver.
In St. Louis, a teenage girl lost both of her legs because the bleeding hearts put this scumbag under house arrest instead of prison, and then the bleeding hearts refused to punish him for his 51 violations of house arrest
Man violated house arrest 51 times before severe crash Downtown, records show
February 21, 2023
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) – Daniel Riley, 21, ran a yield sign in downtown St. Louis on Saturday, striking and critically injuring a teenage girl. News 4 Investigates looked into Riley’s background and found 51 bond violations and that he never had a driver’s license.
Riley was out on bond, accused of being armed and stealing a gun in August 2020.
That case was supposed to go to trial in January this year, but we learned from sources that the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office wasn’t ready. They had to dismiss the case and refile it the same day.
The judge put Riley on house arrest with a GPS tracker.
Court records show he violated that 51 times. Those violations ranged from not charging the tracker, to being out of the house when he wasn’t supposed to.
In records obtained by News 4, you can see maps showing him moving around St. Louis.
News 4 learned that the GPS monitoring was done by a private company that works with the court. They report every violation, and that gets put in the court record. A notice is also sent to prosecutors.
According to a statement from St. Louis Circuit Courts, “notice is not emailed to judges.”
Meaning it was up to the Circuit Attorney’s Office to do something. To date, the Circuit Attorney’s Office has never filed a motion to revoke Riley’s bond.
Records filed today show that Riley claims he’s been working in home health care for four months, making $15 an hour.
News 4 is going to keep asking the Circuit Attorney’s Office why they never filed to have Riley’s bond taken away and what they’re doing to make sure people who don’t follow the conditions of their bond are held accountable.
The Circuit Attorney’s Office sent the following statement to News 4 for this story:
“A young girl’s life was tragically changed because of the inexcusable behavior of a young man. Our hearts go out to the victim and her family for this unspeakable tragedy that will undoubtedly have a lasting impact not only on her, but her family and loved ones. It’s unfortunate that there are those who choose to twist the facts to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish motives. This is not the time for finger pointing, it’s time to support this family, and ensure that justice is served.”
– St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office
For the 2018-2019 school year, the U.S. ranked a very impressive 4th when it came to per student public funding of K-12 education, but it only ranked a very abysmal 26th when it came to average student performance in math and reading
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 20, 2023
I asked ChatGPT the following:
The 2018-2019 school year happened before COVID-19. For that particular school year, to the best of your knowledge, please list every OECD country, in order of the per student public funding for K-12 education. Please list the public funding per student, for each country, in U.S. dollars. Please start with the country that had the highest level of per student public funding, and continue with listing the countries in descending order of per student public funding. Then make a second list, where you list all of the OECD countries, in order, based on student performance in math and reading. Start with the country that had the best student performance, and continue with listing the countries in descending order of student performance. For all of this, use information from the 2018-2019 school year, and make it only for public funding of K-12 schools. Use whatever sources of information that are the most reliable. Please cite your sources.
This is how it responded: (Note from Daniel Alman: For some weird reason, Luxembourg appears on the first list, but not on the second. Furthermore, South Korea (which is just listed as “Korea”) and New Zealand both appear on the second list, but not on the first. Also, even though ChatGPT supposedly does not have internet access, it did include two links in its response. The first link is dead, and I could not find any archive of it. The second link works as of this writing. I suppose the first link may have worked at some point in the past.)
And now on with the response from ChatGPT:
Based on the information available to me, I can provide the following lists:
List of OECD countries by per student public funding for K-12 education (2018-2019)
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Switzerland – $17,794
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Norway – $16,548
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Luxembourg – $15,958
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United States – $15,421
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Denmark – $14,675
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Australia – $13,736
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Netherlands – $12,425
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Iceland – $11,624
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Sweden – $11,573
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Canada – $10,742
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United Kingdom – $10,392
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Austria – $10,155
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Germany – $10,075
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Belgium – $9,952
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France – $9,683
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Japan – $9,111
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Italy – $8,700
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Finland – $8,474
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Spain – $7,699
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Ireland – $7,645
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Portugal – $6,711
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Czech Republic – $5,729
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Slovenia – $5,346
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Israel – $4,779
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Estonia – $4,512
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Greece – $4,455
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Poland – $4,400
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Slovak Republic – $4,399
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Turkey – $4,326
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Hungary – $4,160
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Mexico – $3,386
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Chile – $3,247
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Colombia – $2,594
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Costa Rica – $2,350
Note: The data on per student public funding for K-12 education in each country is sourced from the OECD report “Education at a Glance 2021” (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/education-at-a-glance-2021_69096873-en).
List of OECD countries by student performance in math and reading (2018-2019)
-
Japan
-
Estonia
-
Canada
-
Finland
-
Korea
-
Poland
-
Ireland
-
Slovenia
-
Netherlands
-
Switzerland
-
Australia
-
Belgium
-
Norway
-
Denmark
-
Germany
-
New Zealand
-
United Kingdom
-
France
-
Portugal
-
Sweden
-
Czech Republic
-
Austria
-
Spain
-
Italy
-
Slovak Republic
-
United States
-
Iceland
-
Greece
-
Israel
-
Turkey
-
Mexico
-
Chile
-
Hungary
-
Colombia
-
Costa Rica
Note: The data on student performance in math and reading is sourced from the OECD report “PISA 2018 Results” (https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/pisa-2018-results.htm). The countries are listed in descending order of their mean scores in math and reading.
This is Daniel Alman talking now. I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve heard liberals claim that U.S. K-12 public schools are “underfunded.” Of course, the liberals who make this claim never explain how so many other countries are able to do so much better with far less money. Whatever the problems are with U.S. public education, I don’t think that lack of money is one of them.
It took 165 tries, but this scumbag finally managed to kill someone. He should have been locked up for life many years ago. Why does the government allow sociopaths like this to roam free and do whatever they want?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspect-fatal-hit-run-no-170200678.html
Suspect in fatal hit-and-run has no driver’s license, 164 citations
By Peter Boylan
February 18, 2023
Mitchel Yoshiji Miyashiro pleaded not guilty to driving without a license nine days before he allegedly struck and killed 16-year-old Sara Yara and injured another female student who were in a marked crosswalk.
The 45-year-old man arrested in connection with the hit-and-run incident that killed a McKinley High School student has no driver’s license and 164 prior traffic citations, according to state court records.
Mitchel Yoshiji Miyashiro pleaded not guilty to driving without a license nine days before he allegedly struck and and injured another female student who were in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Kapiolani Boulevard and Kamakee Street near the school’s athletic field shortly after 6:40 a.m. Wednesday.
Miyashiro turned himself in to Honolulu police at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday and was arrested on suspicion of collisions involving death or serious bodily injury, collisions involving bodily injury and first-degree negligent homicide.
He was released while police continue their investigation. Yara’s friend was reported in good condition.
The question of how someone with a record of 164 traffic crimes and citations and no driver’s license was able to get behind the wheel of a car in Hawaii remains unanswered.
“The driver in this case has been repeatedly cited for driving without a license and other traffic violations. Hawaii law allows individuals like this to be imprisoned, ” state House Speaker Scott Saiki told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a statement. “If the driver had not been imprisoned in the past, we need to understand why, and whether we need to strengthen our laws. If they had been, this incident may not have occurred.”
Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe ” Logan declined to comment on the ongoing hit-and-run investigation. He agreed with Saiki’s assessment that a review of existing traffic laws is needed in light of this week’s tragedy.
“Decriminalizing certain offenses, such as traffic (violations ) is … popular nationally. From a law enforcement perspective, it is not supportive of … helping us keep people safe and secure. Actions have consequences, ” said Logan in an interview with the Star-Advertiser.
He noted that certain misdemeanor property crimes become felonies after habitual offenses.
“We need to review and look at the consequences for this behavior.”
Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm declined to comment.
In 2005, Hawaii lawmakers decriminalized most of the state’s traffic code as part of an effort to focus resources on more serious offenses and allowed violators to mail in fines rather than appear in court.
Prior to 2005, police could arrest motorists for any violation of the traffic code, and violators had the right to a trial. Offenders with the means to hire an attorney and demand a trial often held out hope that the officer would not be able to appear for trial and that the traffic case would be dismissed for lack of a speedy trial.
Police also would often use traffic offenses as probable cause in instances when they suspected more serious offenses were occurring.
In Wednesday’s deadly incident, police got the license plate number of the silver pickup truck that struck Yara and her friend from a witness to the collision who tailed the truck long enough to get the information, according to multiple sources.
Police went to the address of the truck’s registered owners and discovered that Miyashiro’s parents were the vehicle’s owners. When first confronted by his parents, Miyashiro allegedly told them the truck was stolen and he wanted to file a police report, the sources said.
Miyashiro and his mother did not immediately reply to a Star-Advertiser request for comment.
According to state court records, Miyashiro has been issued traffic citations and charged with traffic misdemeanor crimes at a rate of more than six a year since he was cited for speeding May 29, 1996. Since Jan. 12, 2018, he has been charged 12 times with driving without a license or driving with a suspended license.
Six of those 12 stops for driving without a license happened in 2018.
Since his initial citation for speeding in 1996, Miyashiro has been cited for driving more than 80 miles per hour, using a fraudulent insurance card, not having insurance, driving with inoperable taillights and headlights, being in an accident involving property damage and other traffic violations.
Over the course of his 27-year stretch of traffic offenses, Miyashiro has pleaded no contest, been granted deferred acceptances of his no-contest pleas, been found guilty and paid hundreds of dollars in fines and fees, according to court records. Not once was he jailed for his driving offenses.
The bleeding hearts are shocked to find out that their own policies of going soft on violent criminals allows these violent criminals to commit as many violent crimes as they want
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 20, 2023
I’m going to start out with this obligatory scene from Casablanca:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMIyDf3gBoY
This article is from the Hartford Courant. The study that is cited in the article is new, but its basic premise is something that I have been saying for a very long time: a relatively small percentage of violent criminals are responsible for most of the violent crime. District attorneys and judges who refuse to properly punish these violent criminals make it possible for them to commit as many violent crimes as they want.
Passing more gun control laws won’t stop these violent criminals from getting illegal guns and committing more violent crimes.
The only thing that will stop these criminals from getting guns and committing more violent crimes is to keep them in prison for a very, very long time.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ct-mayors-wrestle-data-show-110000079.html
CT mayors wrestle with what data show is at root of gun violence: Chronic repeat offenders
By Edmund H. Mahony
February 20, 2023
Over a career spent comforting victims of violent crime, Andrew Woods, executive director of Hartford Communities that Care, said there is a complaint he has heard over and over.
“As an individual and an organization that has provided victim services for 25 years, we have heard far too often from mothers and dads and siblings in our community asking the big question: Why are they home so soon?” he said.
The “they” to whom Woods referred to are the violent, repeat felons responsible for a three-year spike in urban gun crime in Connecticut and who, in the view of Woods’ clients and urban police departments, exploit weaknesses in bail, sentencing and parole laws to stay on the streets and terrorize neighborhoods.
Last week at the state Capitol, Woods joined Connecticut’s big city mayors, who departed from the new decriminalization orthodoxy to push a package of proposed laws that would enhance bail and sentencing laws as they apply to repeat gun criminals. They backed up the legislative pitch with a startling statistical analysis of gun crimes that shows most gun criminals are chronic reoffenders who are committing second and third offenses while released on bail or probation.
The mayors, all Democrats, arrived with the statistics and an array of inner city supporters, including mothers with emotional stories about murdered children. But it was unclear what reception their proposals would get from the Democratic-controlled legislature, where recent gun proposals trend more toward limiting gun access than prosecution. There was some support for the proposals from Republicans.
The gun criminals are, according to the numbers, a relatively small, violent group with felony records. They commit a significant percentage of urban gun crimes while free on bond and awaiting trial on other crimes, or while on parole or probation after prior convictions and prison sentences, data shows.
The analysis is based on arrest records collected by the Hartford and Waterbury police departments and was prepared by the Chief State’s Attorney’s office. The data shows the number of arrests in Waterbury is slightly less than in Hartford, but the percentages track.
In Hartford, shooting suspects had long criminal records; half those arrested over the last three years had been arrested in the city for something else within the prior year and one half. On average, they had 10 prior arrests, three for felonies. Most are men (95%), 18- to 34-years-old (70%).
Hartford data drawn from 345 gun violence incidents between January 2019 and March 2021 shows that 85% of the suspects arrested for gun crimes had been convicted of gun crimes previously.
Last year, of the 44 people arrested in Hartford for murders or attempted murders with guns, 39% had charges pending from other crimes, but had been released from custody after posting bond. Fifteen percent were on probation. Five percent were on parole. Of those arrested last year, 39% had prior convictions for violent felonies or gun crimes.
The victims, according to the data, differ little from their shooters.
In Hartford over the last three years, between 58 and 74% of both shooting victims and suspects had prior involvement with the criminal justice system and most had extensive criminal histories: 65% had been in prison, 73% had prior felony convictions and served periods of probation, the data shows.
In the cases of most victims and shooters, only one or two of their 10 prior arrests prior arrests resulted in incarceration. More than half were dismissed or expunged some other way.
The bottom line, according to a summary by Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin, is that someone with a prior gun conviction is 8,000 times more likely than someone without a criminal record to be arrested for a shooting and nearly 400 times more likely to be arrested for a shooting than other convicted felons.
The mayors, working through the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, are asking the legislature to adopt a 10-point plan that would create a new category of crime — “Serious Firearms Offense” — and enact narrowly focused laws to make it easier for courts to restrict the pre-trial release of offenders and return them to prison if they reoffend after release.
“This sends a message that it is not acceptable to continue to be a violent offender and just come home and walk free to cause more harm and danger to the community,” said Loquavia Jones, who lost two sons to gun violence in New Haven, in 2020 and again in January.
“We have to send a message that if you are willing to continue to commit violent crimes you have to pay for that and that sometimes involves your freedom,” Jones said.
Jones’ group was one of several that joined the Democratic mayors of Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport and New Haven; big city police chiefs, state prosecutors and Gov. Ned Lamont at the state Capitol to promote the plan.
Under the proposals, prosecutors could ask courts to make repeat gun offenders post 30 percent of bail bonds rather than the tiny fraction they now post with a bondsman. The change would make it more difficult to obtain pre-trial release, while protecting the right to bail guaranteed in the state constitution. Another proposal would forfeit the bonds of repeat offenders who commit another gun crime from while on pretrial release.
The mayors also want the legislature to increase the mandatory minimum sentence for serious gun crimes by one day and require offenders to serve 85% of their prison sentences. The changes would expose offenders to special parole after prison — and a return to prison for violations.
“The group that is gathered here today is also here to say that we need to make sure there are more severe consequences for those who are repeat serious offenders, who are engaged in gun violence in our communities,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said. “And to say that if you have a record of serious offenses and you commit a new, serious firearms offense, we need to make sure that there are swift and severe consequences. This is about saving lives. This is about making our communities safer and stronger.”
Among the group was Deborah Davis of Hartford, who spoke for Mothers United Against Violence.
“This proposal, these ideas specifically, are so important to us,” she said. “Because we want to make certain that individuals are not back on the street. We are supporting every proposal that would alleviate some of the concerns that we have with some individuals being able to come back out so quickly.”
Big city support is no guarantee that the proposed legislation will succeed — even after the more punitive aspects in the proposals were dialed back to appease lawmakers who believe cities are already over-policed and prosecuted.
State Rep. Steven Staftstrom, the Bridgeport Democrat who is House chairman of the legislature’s influential judiciary committee, would not handicap chances of the mayors’ proposals being enacted, but said he personally supports “reasonable tweaks” that “enhance public safety and cut down on gun violence in our cities.”
“Connecticut actually saw a precipitous drop in crime over the last decades as we have been smart on crime rather than just being tough on crime,” he said.
“States like Connecticut that have stronger gun control laws but are smart on criminal justice have vastly lower rates of gun violence than states that are just tough on crime and may have more lax gun laws,” Staftstrom said. “That’s why the committee’s focus has really been on access to firearms, particularly over the last several years.”
Vincent Candelora, the House Republican leader from North Branford, said his party’s criminal justice agenda aligns with that of the mayors — at least on the question of bail.
“We believe the bail system is being underutilized and it is allowing violent offenders to be released,” Candelora said. “We can continue to over regulate guns all we want. But we need to start regulating the people.”
When pitching their proposals, the mayors sought to convey a message that their solutions were less a law-and-order tactic than a “targeted, narrowly focused” element in a broader solution to the problem.
“We recognize that combatting gun violence requires a comprehensive approach,” Bronin said.
“That means we need to continue to provide sustainable sources of support to community-based violence intervention, make sure that we are providing sufficient treatment for mental and behavioral health and trauma recovery both inside our correctional facilities and outside,” he said. “We need to make sure that we are providing opportunities for those who come back who have made mistakes to rebuild and reenter in a successful way.”
Regardless of how it happens, Woods said his clients are tired of seeing gunmen on the street.
He said one of the most jarring accounts he has heard was from a mother who was convinced that her son, a “perpetrator” of gun violence, would not have been shot and killed had he not been released from prison.
“These are parents who know their sons may be at high risk of perpetrating and are screaming out at the top of their lungs to keep their son in prison until they turn onto that road where they do not get released in time to perpetrate against someone else,” Woods said.
“So I am glad to see these proposals today, because public safety is key,” he said.
Can’t say “queer” anymore! Authoritarians at Puffin just made hundreds of changes to Roald Dahl’s books. Here are some examples.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 19, 2023
This article from the Telegraph lists a huge numbers of the changes that publisher Puffin has recently made to Roald Dahl’s books.
Dahl himself has been dead for decades, so he had nothing to do with these changes. I’m certain that when he wrote his original text, he put a tremendous amount of thought into the words that he chose. I’m guessing that he would probably drop dead from a heart attack if he were still alive and could see how his art has been mutilated. Or perhaps the back of his head would have exploded. Certainly, he would have been furious, and would have felt very heavily violated.
Every famous and well loved author has their own unique writing style. The original text of Dahl’s books was written in a specific manner that makes it clearly identifiable as having been written by Dahl. His word choices were colorful and descriptive. The changes that Puffin has made vandalize Dahl’s writing. They also dumb it down. The new, replacement text is bland and drab.
This is exactly the kind of thing that George Orwell warned us about in his novel 1984.
Here are some examples of the recent changes to Dahl’s books, as reported in this Telegraph article:
Original text: “In her right hand she carried a walking stick. She used to tell people that this was because she had warts growing on her sole of her left foot and walking was painful.”
New text: “In her right hand she carried a walking stick. Not because she needed help walking.”
Original text: “You can’t go round pulling the hair of every lady you meet, even if she is wearing gloves. Just you try it and see what happens”
New text: “Besides, there are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that”
Original text: “But what about the rest of the world?’ I cried. “What about America and France and Holland and Germany?”
New text: “But what about the rest of the world?” I cried
Original text: “Your daughter Vanessa, judging by what she’s learnt this term, has no hearing-organs at all”
New text: “Judging by what your daughter Vanessa has learnt this term, this fact alone is more interesting than anything I have taught in the classroom “
Original text: “They must be absolutely mad! the Centipede said”
New text: “What are they doing?! the Centipede said”
Original text: “Idiots!” he yelled
New text: “Oi!” he yelled
Original text: “Great flock of ladies”
New text: “Great group of ladies”
Original text: “Chambermaid”
New text: “Cleaner“
Original text: “Queer“
New text: “Strange”
Original text: “Foul bald-headed females”
New text: “Foul females”
Original text:”fatty folds of his flabby neck”
New text: “folds of his neck”
Original text: “Even if she is working as a cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman”
New text: “Even if she is working as a top scientist or running a business”
Original text: “It nearly killed Ashton as well. Half the skin came away from his scalp”
New text: “It didn’t do Ashton much good”
Original text: “Dickens or Kipling”
New text: “Dickens or Austen”
Original text: “Wise old bird”
New text: “Wise teacher”
Original text: “You’re mad”
New text: “I don’t know why“
Original text: “Knock her flat”
New text: “Give her a right talking to”
Original text: “blow off the top of her head”
New text: “shoot sparks out the top of her head”
Original text: “Maybe that will brighten up those horrid brown teeth of hers”
New text: “Maybe that will brighten up her smile”
Original text: “The old hag opened her small wrinkled mouth, showing disgusting pale brown teeth”
New text: “The old lady opened her small wrinkled mouth.”
Original text: “I climbed up to their tree-house village and poked my head in through the door of the tree house belonging to the leader of the tribe”
New text: “I decided to speak to their leader”
Original text: “The poor little fellow, looking thin and starved, was sitting there…”
New text: “The fellow was sitting there…”
Original text: “So I shipped them all over here – every man, woman, and child in the Oompa-Loompa tribe”
New text: “So, they all agreed to come over – each and every Oompa-Loompa”
Original text: “It was easy. I smuggled them over in large packing cases with holes in them, and they all got here safely… They all speak English now”
New text: “They’ve told me they love it here”
Orignal text: “But Augustus was deaf to everything except the call of his enormous stomach”
New text: “But Augustus was ignoring everything”
Orginal text: “She wants a good kick in the pants,” whispered Grandpa Joe
New text: “She needs to learn some manners,” whispered Grandpa Joe
Original text: “How long could we allow this beast/To gorge and guzzle, feed and feast/On everything he wanted to?/Great Scott! It simply wouldn’t do./However long this pig might live,/We’re positive he’d never give/Even the smallest bit of fun/Or happiness to anyone”
New text: “For one such child as vile as he/Bad things happen, wait and see!/We cannot say we are surprised,/Augustus Gloop had been advised./ But then he took another sip/And now he’s going on a trip.”
So those are some of the examples of original text being replaced with new text.
In many other cases, text has been completely removed, with nothing to replace it. Here are some examples of text that has been removed without being replaced:
“When an actress wears a wig, or if you or I were to wear a wig, we would be putting it on over our own hair, but a witch has to put it straight on to her naked scalp “
“How horrid!” “Disgusting,” my grandmother said
“Perhaps he had been forced to jam her thumb down the spout of a boiling kettle until it was steamed away”
“The gums were like raw meat”
“I simply cannot tell you how awful they were, and somehow the whole sight was made more grotesque because underneath those frightful scabby bald heads, the bodies were dressed in fashionable and rather pretty clothes. It was monstrous. It was unnatural”
“We could round them all up and put them in the meat-grinder“
“He needs to go on a diet”
“I was crazy”
“She wore heavy make-up and had one of those unfortunate bulging figures where the flesh appeas to be strapped in all around the body to prevent it from falling out”
“His wife recognised the signs immediately and made herself scarce”
“Matilda took the knife she had been eating with”
“He looked like a low-grade bookmaker dressed up for his daughter’s wedding”
“Bingo afternoons left her so exhausted both physically and emotionally that she never had enough energy left to cook an evening meal”
“Their children turned out to be delinquents and drop-outs”
“I was her slave”
“She looked as though she was going to faint.”
“Mr Kranky was a small man with bandy legs and a huge head.”
“That’s what happens to you if you’re grumpy and bad tempered,’ said Mr Kranky. ‘Great medicine of yours, George.’”
“But she calmed down quite quickly. And by lunchtime, she was saying, ‘Ah well, I suppose it’s all for the best, really. She was a bit of a nusiance around the house, wasn’t she?’ ‘Yes,’ Mr Kranky said. ‘She most certainly was.’”
“The man behind the counter looked fat and well-fed. He had big lips and fat cheeks and a very fat neck”
“The fat around his neck bulged out all around the top of his collar like a rubber ring”
“Look at their funny long hair!”
“But they can’t be real people,” Charlie said
“The Oompa-Loompas spent every moment of their days climbing through the treetops”
“You only had to mention the word “cacao” to an Oompa-Loompa and he would start dribbling at the mouth”
“Mr Wonka turned around and clicked his finger sharply, click, click, click, three times”
“The Oompa-Loompa bowed and smiled, showing beautiful white teeth. His skin was rosy-white, his hair was golden brown, and the top of his head came just above the height of Mr Wonka’s knee“
“He wore the usual deerskin slung over his shoulder”
“But this revolting boy, of course,/Was so unutterably vile,/So greedy, foul, and infantile,/He left a most disgusting taste/Inside our mouths, and so in haste/We chose a thing that, come what may./Would take the nasty taste away”
“Rather pretty young lady”
“That seemed to calm her down a bit”
“Immensely fat”
So, those are some of the examples that are listed at the Telegraph article. There are hundreds of others in the article that I did not include. You can read the Telegraph article at this link.
Roald Dahl goes PC in a world where no one is ‘fat’ and the Oompa-Loompas are gender neutral
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-woke-overhaul-offensive-words-removed/
Roald Dahl goes PC in a world where no one is ‘fat’ and the Oompa-Loompas are gender neutral
Sensitivity readers were hired to scrutinise the text with parts rewritten for a modern audience
By Anita Singh
17 February 2023
Augustus Gloop is no longer fat, Mrs Twit is no longer fearfully ugly, and the Oompa-Loompas have gone gender-neutral in new editions of Roald Dahl’s beloved stories.
The publisher, Puffin, has made hundreds of changes to the original text, removing many of Dahl’s colourful descriptions and making his characters less grotesque.
The review of Dahl’s language was undertaken to ensure that the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”, Puffin said.
References to physical appearance have been heavily edited. The word “fat” has been removed from every book – Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory may still look like a ball of dough, but can now only be described as “enormous”.
In the same story, the Oompa-Loompas are no longer “tiny”, “titchy” or “no higher than my knee” but merely small. And where once they were “small men”, they are now “small people”.
Passages not written by Dahl have also been added. In The Witches, a paragraph explaining that witches are bald beneath their wigs ends with the new line: “There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.”
In previous editions of James and the Giant Peach, the Centipede sings: “Aunt Sponge was terrifically fat/And tremendously flabby at that,” and, “Aunt Spiker was thin as a wire/And dry as a bone, only drier.”
Both verses have been removed, and in their place are the underwhelming rhymes: “Aunt Sponge was a nasty old brute/And deserved to be squashed by the fruit,” and, “Aunt Spiker was much of the same/And deserves half of the blame.”
References to “female” characters have disappeared – Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a “most formidable female”, is now a “most formidable woman”.
“Boys and girls” has been turned into “children”. The Cloud-Men in James and the Giant Peach have become Cloud-People and Fantastic Mr Fox’s three sons have become daughters.
Matilda reads Jane Austen rather than Rudyard Kipling, and a witch posing as “a cashier in a supermarket” now works as “a top scientist”.
Mrs Twit’s “fearful ugliness” is reduced to “ugliness”, while Mrs Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an “attractive middle-aged lady” but a “kind middle-aged lady”.
One of Dahl’s most popular lines from The Twits is: “You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams.” It has been edited to take out the “double chin”.
An emphasis on mental health has led to the removal of “crazy” and “mad”, which Dahl used frequently in comic fashion. A mention in Esio Trot of tortoises being “backward” – the joke behind the book’s title – has been excised.
The words “black” and “white” have been removed: characters no longer turn “white with fear” and the Big Friendly Giant in The BFG cannot wear a black cloak.
The changes were made by the publisher, Puffin, and the Roald Dahl Story Company, now owned by Netflix, with sensitivity readers hired to scrutinise the text.
The review began in 2020, when the company was still run by the Dahl family. Netflix acquired the literary estate in 2021 for a reported £500 million.
Sensitivities over Dahl’s stories were heightened when a 2020 Hollywood version of The Witches led to a backlash over its depiction of the Grand Witch, played by Anne Hathaway, with fingers missing from each hand.
Warner Bros was forced to make an apology after Paralympians and charities said it was offensive to the limb difference community.
That same year, the Dahl family and the company apologised for the author’s past anti-Semitic statements.
Matthew Dennison, Dahl’s biographer, said that the author – who died in 1990 – chose his vocabulary with care. “I’m almost certain that he would have recognised that alterations to his novels prompted by the political climate were driven by adults rather than children,” he said.
To Increase Equity, School Districts Eliminate Honors Classes
https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee
To Increase Equity, School Districts Eliminate Honors Classes
Supporters say uniform classes create rigor for all students but critics say cuts hurt faster learners
By Sara Randazzo
February 17, 2023
CULVER CITY, Calif.—A group of parents stepped to the lectern Tuesday night at a school board meeting in this middle-class, Los Angeles-area city to push back against a racial-equity initiative. The high school, they argued, should reinstate honors English classes that were eliminated because they didn’t enroll enough Black and Latino students.
The district earlier this school year replaced the honors classes at Culver City High School with uniform courses that officials say will ensure students of all races receive an equal, rigorous education.
These parents disagreed.
“We really feel equity means offering opportunities to students of diverse backgrounds, not taking away opportunities for advanced education and study,” Joanna Schaenman, a Culver City parent who helped spearhead the effort, said in the run-up to the meeting.
The parental pushback in Culver City mirrors resistance that has taken place in Wisconsin, Rhode Island and elsewhere in California over the last year in response to schools stripping away the honors designation on some high school classes.
School districts doing away with honors classes argue students who don’t take those classes from a young age start to see themselves in a different tier, and come to think they aren’t capable of enrolling in Advanced Placement classes that help with college admissions. Black and Latino students are underrepresented in AP enrollment in the majority of states, according to the Education Trust, a nonprofit that studies equity in education.
Since the start of this school year, freshmen and sophomores in Culver City have only been able to select one level of English class, known as College Prep, rather than the previous system in which anyone could opt into the honors class. School officials say the goal is to teach everyone with an equal level of rigor, one that encourages them to enroll in advanced classes in their final years of high school.
“Parents say academic excellence should not be experimented with for the sake of social justice,” said Quoc Tran, the superintendent of 6,900-student Culver City Unified School District. But, he said, “it was very jarring when teachers looked at their AP enrollment and realized Black and brown kids were not there. They felt obligated to do something.”
Culver City English teachers presented data at a board meeting last year showing Latino students made up 13% of those in 12th-grade Advanced Placement English, compared with 37% of the student body. Asian students were 34% of the advanced class, compared with 10% of students. Black students represented 14% of AP English, versus 15% of the student body.
The board saw anonymous quotes from students not enrolled in honors classes saying they felt less motivated or successful. One described students feeling “unable to break out of the molds that they established when they were 11.”
Tuesday marked Ms. Schaenman’s first time attending a school board meeting in person in years. She wandered the hallways of City Hall with fellow parent Pedro Frigola looking for the right room, clutching a stack of copies laying out the two-page resolution they and a few dozen other parents are asking the board to adopt.
Mr. Frigola said he disagrees with the district’s view of equity. “I was born in Cuba, and it doesn’t sound good when people are trying to achieve equal outcomes for everyone,” he said.
His ninth-grade daughter, Emma Frigola, said she was surprised and a little confused by the decision to remove honors, which she had wanted to take. She said her English teacher, who used to teach the honors class, is trying to maintain a higher standard, but that it doesn’t always seem to be working.
“There are some people who slow down the pace because they don’t really do anything and aren’t looking to try harder,” Emma said. “I don’t think you can force that into people.”
For a unit on research, Emma said her teacher gathered all the reference sources they needed to write a paper on whether graffiti is art or vandalism and had students review them together in class. Her sister, Elena Frigola, now in 11th grade, said prior honors English students chose their own topics and did research independently.
In Santa Monica, Calif., high school English teachers said last year they had “a moral imperative” to eliminate honors English classes that they viewed as perpetuating inequality. The teachers studied the issue for a year and a half, a district representative said.
“This is not a social experiment,” board member Jon Kean said at a meeting last spring. “This is a sound pedagogical approach to education.”
Gail Pinsker, a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District spokeswoman, said the shift this school year “has increased access and provided excellent educational experiences for all of our students.”
Several school districts have scaled back plans to eliminate honors classes after community opposition. San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School planned to eliminate 11th-grade honors American literature and U.S. history last year, but reinstated both after listening to students and families, a district spokeswoman said.
The school district in Madison, Wis., pulled back on plans last year to remove stand-alone honors classes and now lets students earn an honors label within general classes. A Rhode Island district made a similar move.
Those who support cutting honors classes point out that the curriculum of honors courses often doesn’t differ substantially from regular classes. Honors classes often move at a faster pace and the students complete more assignments. Some can boost grade-point averages or give students an advantage when applying for college.
Critics say attempting to teach everyone at an elevated level isn’t realistic and that teachers, even with the best intentions, may end up simplifying instruction. Instead, some educators and parents argue schools should find more ways to diversify honors courses and encourage students to enroll who aren’t self-selecting, including proactively reaching out to students, using an opt-out system, or looking to teacher recommendations.
“I just don’t see how removing something from some kids all of a sudden helps other kids learn faster,” said Scott Peters, a senior research scientist at education research nonprofit NWEA who has studied equity in gifted and talented programs.
In Culver City, Mr. Tran said he isn’t going to mandate that other departments move away from honors but that he would listen to any teacher-driven suggestions. As for English, he said he is throwing his support behind the high school’s teachers to try to elevate education for all students.
“We will keep moving forward,” he said.
I agree with this statement that Democratic U.S. Congressional Representative Angie Craig from Minnesota made after she was recently assaulted
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 16, 2023
U.S. Congressional Representative Angie Craig from Minnesota was recently assaulted. This is what she said after her assaulter was arrested:
“I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning… And so I think we have to think about how in the world can we make sure that we’re not just letting criminals out… I mean, it wasn’t even in every instance that he got 10 days or 30 days. Many times, the charges were completely dropped before any justice was achieved at all… I was assault number 13 on his record… And I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure there’s not a 14, a 15, a 20… If you throw somebody in jail for 10 days and think, ‘There’s your punishment, and we’re gonna let you right back on the street,’ what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?”
I agree with her.
I hope they lock this scumbag up for the rest of his life. There’s no excuse for ever letting him out to hurt a 14th, 15th, or 20th victim. I hope some of those older cases that never got prosecuted are still within the statute of limitations, and that he gets the maximum sentence for each and every one one of them.
Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids play “Up Around the Bend” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi9ILrl88U8
Democratic lawmaker with ties to ‘defund the police’ movement calls for crackdown on crime following assault
Democratic lawmaker with ties to ‘defund the police’ movement calls for crackdown on crime following assault
Noting DC let the repeat offender off with light sentences, Rep. Craig asked, ‘what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?’
By Jeffrey Clark
February 15, 2023
Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig, who was allegedly assaulted in the elevator of her Washington, D.C. residence by a 26-year-old man named Kendrid Hamlin, has been tied to the “defund the police” movement.
One of Craig’s top staffers, Liz Young, has spoken out against the police and even called for property destruction on her Twitter account, according to a Washington Free Beacon report from last year.
In 2020, Young responded to news about deaths related to police in New York with four words: “Burn. It. All. Down.”
Young also claimed in June 2020 that cities should “fund counselors, not cops,” and has also promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a far-left group that supports the defunding of the police.
But since then, Young’s boss, who has herself attended fundraisers of groups tied to the defund the police movement, according to the Free Beacon, has made repeated calls for a stronger law enforcement policy.
The change came soon after Craig said she was assaulted in an elevator in her Washington, D.C. apartment complex.
“I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning,” Craig told CBS News.
“And so I think we have to think about how in the world we can make sure that we’re not just letting criminals out,” she added.
Craig emphasized that repeat offenders are not always deterred by short sentences and punishments.
“I mean, it wasn’t even in every instance that he got 10 days or 30 days. Many times, the charges were completely dropped before any justice was achieved at all,” she said.
“If you throw somebody in jail for 10 days and think, ‘There’s your punishment, and we’re gonna let you right back on the street,’ what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?” Craig asked.
The Democratic congresswoman argued that there must be a way to prevent criminals from “getting back out” and getting away with the same crimes.
“We have to get these repeat offenders off the streets,” she said.
“We also have got to figure out how we get people the mental health and addiction help that they need because these people are getting back out and just recommitting the same crimes over and over and over again.”
BRUTAL BEATING: Woman attacked and robbed by 4 teens while walking down street
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Cj7hQjhfs
Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids play “Fool in the Rain” by Led Zeppelin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCg96Fksdg0
In Portland, Oregon, after this violent serial criminal repeatedly beat, strangled, and threatened to kill his girlfriend, ripped off his ankle monitor, and ignored multiple restraining orders, progressives paid his bail. Anyone who’s not an idiot can guess what he did next.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/a-murder-in-portland
A murder in Portland
By Nancy Rommelmann
December 29, 2022
The beatings escalated after Rachael and Mo split. He would break in after midnight, the girls sleeping through his punching Rachael, choking her, telling her she was going to die. One night, he put a gun to her head. She was still shaking when the Portland, Oregon, police got there and told her she could request a no-contact order. “When I told him I was leaving him, he told me that he would kill me,” she wrote on the request, which stipulated Mo stay at least 150 feet away from her and the children.
Mo ignored the no-contact order, showing up at dinnertime on June 23. His and Rachael’s 4-year-old let him in. He was very high, whether on cocaine or meth Rachael did not know. He broke her phone and blocked her way as she tried to escape. He spent hours hitting her that night, choking her five times and saying, as he knelt on her windpipe, “I am going to put you to sleep now.” Mo went upstairs to the children’s room. He’d left his phone on the floor. Rachael grabbed it and made for the front door. She was not wearing her abaya when the police arrived. It was 6 a.m., and Rachael had a new black eye as she told officers she believed she was going to die.
Colt Clark and the Quarantine Kids play “Low Rider” by War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STwclN0xZoI
I wish WPXI the best of luck in finding out why Magistrate Judge Leah Williams Duncan dropped so many charges of violent crime that had been filed against this suspect in Pittsburgh. Was he innocent? Or was there some other reason? I hope WPXI will find out the answers.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
February 11, 2023
On February 9, 2023, WPXI, the Pittsburgh affiliate of NBC News, published this this article, which is called, “Man linked to multiple violent crimes across Pittsburgh.”
The article includes the following text. I am redacting the name of the suspect in case he is innocent:
“Channel 11 dug into his background and determined that he is facing charges in other violent and armed attacks on people in Pittsburgh.”
“(Name redacted) has been named as a suspect in a case from Nov. of 2022, wherein a Jitney driver was threatened and forced to flee a traffic stop…”
“(Name redacted) has also been named as a suspect in a violent home invasion and robbery reported in July of 2022 on Tacoma Street. In that case, court documents claim three suspects held a woman and her young children at gunpoint.”
“… records show that Magistrate Judge Leah Williams Duncan last month dismissed all of the charges against (name redacted) in both cases. Channel 11 contacted Judge Duncan’s court to ask why that decision was made. At the time this article was published, we had not received a response.”
This WPXI article is primarily about one very recent case. The article says that last month, Magistrate Judge Leah Williams Duncan dropped the charges against this suspect in two other, earlier cases. WPXI says it asked Judge Duncan’s office why she dropped the charges, but there was no response. I hope WPXI will report those reasons in the future. If the guy was innocent, the public should know. If the charges were dropped for some other reason, the public should know what those reasons were. I wish WPXI the best of luck in finding out this information.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 