The cruelest villain in movie history
The cruelest villain in movie history isn’t Darth Vader or Keyser Soze.
It’s Karen from The Last American Virgin.
That’s the real reason why that name is hated so much today.
In Phoenix, a 29-year-old woman named Lauren Heike was stabbed to death because the bleeding heart liberals gave probation to a violent, serial armed robber named ZionTeasley.
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1741190840867758344
If you want to be out in a crowded public place with lots of people, and you don’t want to get shot and killed in a public mass shooting, one of the safest places you could be is a gun show.
I’ve read so, so, so many news articles about mass shootings where at least several people were shot and killed. They seem to happen almost everywhere. Schools. Restaurants. Movie theaters.
The one crowded, public place where there never seems to be a mass public shooting where at least several people are shot and killed, is a gun show.
How thoughtful! Governor Newsom is trying help the other 49 states to solve their illegal immigration problem by encouraging all of their illegal immigrants to move to California. I hope his plan works!
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1740866878824915142
To me, this is what it means to be a libertarian
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1740615275182264577
Two innocent people were stabbed in New York City because the district attorney and judges have compassion for a violent serial criminal named Steven Hutcherson (a.k.a. Esteban Esono-Asue) instead of having compassion for his victims
Man Accused in Grand Central Stabbing Had Repeated Run-Ins With Police
Steven Hutcherson’s ex-girlfriend said he had repeatedly banged on her door, and she had reported his mental condition to the authorities.
By Chelsia Rose Marcius
December 27, 2023
The man who stabbed two teenage sisters in Grand Central Terminal on Christmas Day had encountered the police at least 15 times this year and recently was taken to a Bronx hospital for psychological evaluation, Police Department records show.
Manhattan prosecutors charged the man, Steven Hutcherson, 36, with attempted murder and assault as hate crimes on Tuesday after they said he used an anti-white slur before stabbing the girls, 16 and 14.
They were visiting from Paraguay and were sitting with their parents in a cafe. In the criminal complaint, he is identified as Esteban Esono-Asue, another name he uses.
The police records obtained by The New York Times indicate that Mr. Hutcherson’s mental health had declined in the weeks before the attack. The police received a call on Nov. 27 saying that Mr. Hutcherson was standing on a Bronx fire escape, shouting. Eight days later, the police received another call about Mr. Hutcherson, who officers said was acting erratically.
Mr. Hutcherson has been arrested at least two dozen times in New York City.
The records from this year date back to February. They include incidents where Mr. Hutcherson was either acting erratically or reported that he was a victim of a crime. They also include reports made by others who accused him of harassment, assault and, in one instance, a threat to kill a man.
His ex-girlfriend and her family were granted an order of protection against Mr. Hutcherson, who had showed up at the family’s East Harlem home several times banging on their apartment door, according to police records and his ex-girlfriend.
Mr. Hutcherson’s actions came amid a yearslong crisis in New York as the governmental safety net has failed to keep homeless, mentally ill people from harming others. City and state agencies have repeatedly missed chances to prevent violence and have been shielded by state laws that hide those failures.
Law enforcement officials had repeated contact with Mr. Hutcherson but did not find a way to take him off the street before the Christmas Day violence.
On Feb. 24, Mr. Hutcherson told officers someone had pulled a knife on him while he was buying food in a Bronx store.
A month later, he said five people had pummeled him in the head. At least one person had bit his hand, he said.
The next day, March 11, he reported a domestic incident at the apartment belonging to the mother of Charisma Knight, his ex-girlfriend. It was the first of at least eight reports between March and Dec. 1 at the building on Paladino Avenue near East 124th Street in East Harlem.
During that time, Mr. Hutcherson banged on the ex-girlfriend’s door, where her mother also lives, the records show. Her mother reported the incident, and an order of protection was granted against Mr. Hutcherson.
Still, he persisted, according to police records. Mr. Hutcherson showed up again on Thanksgiving Day, knocking on their door. He later approached his ex-girlfriend in the lobby and tried to give her soup and flowers.
Ms. Knight, 37, said she had begun dating Mr. Hutcherson in July 2021, and they split up after several months because he was possessive and controlling, she said. They got back together before breaking up in November 2022.
She said she was relieved that Mr. Hutcherson was in jail. But she also felt authorities had not done enough to heed her warnings. She said she repeatedly told the police that Mr. Hutcherson had serious mental health issues and had continued to violate the order of protection.
Ms. Knight said that if the police had taken her reports seriously, “then the girls would have been protected. They wouldn’t have had to go through that because he would have been incarcerated or in a mental institution, where he’s actually getting the help that he needs until he’s able to be released to society.”
She added: “I’m scared for my life because I don’t know what state of mind he’s going to be in at that moment.”
There were other incidents that did not involve Ms. Knight, and they had occurred with increasing frequency in recent months, the records show. In September, Mr. Hutcherson reported that he was attacked on a platform of the 176th Street subway station in the Bronx, according to the police records. He was taken to a hospital but refused to cooperate with officers.
A month later, on Nov. 7, a man told the police Mr. Hutcherson had hit him on the right side of the head near the Longwood Avenue train station in the Bronx. On the same day, five blocks away, another man reported that Mr. Hutcherson threatened his life. The police found a knife in the pocket of Mr. Hutcherson’s sweatshirt and charged him with possession of a weapon.
Three weeks later, the police received the Nov. 27 call about Mr. Hutcherson on the fire escape. When officers asked him to come down, he refused and continued to scream. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx for evaluation.
On Christmas Day, Mr. Hutcherson entered a restaurant, Tartinery, at Grand Central and an employee asked him to leave, according to the criminal complaint. Mr. Hutcherson, who is Black, then asked a second employee to seat him.
“I don’t want to sit with the Black people,” he said, according to the complaint. “I want to sit with the crackers.”
Shortly after he was seated and given water, the complaint says, he stood, approached a table where a family that appeared to be white was sitting, pulled a knife and stabbed one of the girls in the back.
As the family tried to escape, he stabbed the second girl in the leg, according to the complaint. Neither injury was life-threatening, and the girls were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where the older sister was treated for a collapsed lung, according to officials and the complaint.
You can either have compassion for these doctors who were assaulted and robbed, or you can have compassion for their violent attackers
https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-couple-followed-home-16-003634568.html
California couple are followed home for 16 miles and robbed of ‘generations of jewelry’
December 27, 2023
Dr. Vijay Wali and his wife, Dr. Jyotika Wali, had just pulled into their driveway in Fullerton on Friday night when two men attacked, one pouncing on each of them, the family said.
The man punched Vijay Wali in the head and threw him on the ground, he said. When his wife returned to help, another attacker went right at her, the couple said.
Jyotika Wali said: “I was immediately attacked by another man, and my purse was taken, and I saw my husband had been assaulted, and I screamed for help. My daughter was inside the house and called 911.”
The face of at least one attacker was clearly captured by security cameras at the house, while one of the two drivers was caught on camera at the jewelry store
Among the items stolen was a dehjoor, a hexagonal jewel worn off the ear of a Kashmiri Hindu bride.
“And so it has deep, deep symbolic significance in our culture, and there were generations of jewelry stolen,” said Priyanka Wali, who is engaged to be married and had expected to receive some of the jewels in ceremonies.
The family were traumatized by the attack, but both victims still went to work over the weekend. Jyotika Wali is a primary care physician who worked Saturday, while her husband is an emergency room doctor who did a shift on Christmas Eve.
“I’m scared to come back home,” Jyotika said, adding that she now jumps in fear at the sounds of firecrackers she thinks might be gunshots.
She added: “This is no way to live. I mean, it looks like there is no law. It’s very scary.”
Priyanka Wali, also a practicing physician, said she’s not sure whether her family will ever be able to shake the fear brought on by Friday night’s attack.
“Emotional trauma and physical trauma are one and the same thing,” she said. “So yes, we may be able to walk and talk and have all of our limbs and vital organs functioning, but emotionally the damage has been absolutely devastating.”
A family is being evicted because the mother shot and killed a home intruder who was possibly trying to kidnap, rape, and murder her 8-year-old daughter
https://www.yahoo.com/news/had-think-babies-woman-tells-164531336.html
‘I had to think about my babies.’ Woman tells FOX 4 she shot 14-year-old to protect family
By Harriet Ramos
December 22, 2023
The woman who fatally shot a 14-year-old boy outside her south Fort Worth duplex said she saw him opening a bedroom window and she fired to protect her daughters.
Aleah Wallace told KDFW-TV in an exclusive interview that she was “devastated” to learn the teen’s age.
“I didn’t know he was 14 when he was on the other side of that window,” Wallace said in the interview with FOX 4. “All I knew was that somebody could come in and hurt me or my kids.”
Officers were dispatched to the Peppertree Acres Apartments in the 5200 block of Southcrest Court early on the morning of Dec. 14 after Wallace reported a prowler. When officers arrived, she told them the person had left the area, police have said.
Wallace called again shortly before 3 a.m. to report the person had come back and was attempting to enter her home. When they returned to the scene, officers found the teenager on the ground in the front yard with at least one gunshot wound to his torso, according to police.
Family members identified the 14-year-old as Devin Baker, an eighth-grade student at Rosemont Middle School. His family also lives in the Peppertree Acres Apartments. Devin died at the scene. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, he was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds at 2:53 a.m.
Wallace told KDFW that she got a gun to protect her family after some recent break-ins at her rental home. The Star-Telegram has not been able to reach her for comment.
Online police reports show officers responded to her home for a criminal mischief call on Nov. 29. Police found a window had been vandalized or damaged.
Officers also responded to a burglary call at Wallace’s address on the night of Dec. 12, a little more than 24 hours before the shooting. Several Nike Air Jordan shoes are listed as the items stolen in the burglary, according to the police report. No arrests were reported in either of those previous incidents.
No one was home when those burglaries took place, but Wallace, 25, was alone in the house with her four young daughters on Dec. 14 when somebody tried to get in again, KDFW reported. She called 911, but the prowler was gone when officers arrived. A short time later, Wallace was sweeping her living room floor when she heard a window being opened, she said.
“I stood in the hallway, and I could see him standing at the window, lifting it up,” Wallace told KDFW. “I just shot.”
The gunfire fatally struck Devin, who Wallace said was outside the bedroom window of her 8-year-old daughter, KDFW reported.
The Star-Telegram asked Fort Worth police if their investigation found evidence that confirmed the teen was trying to break into Wallace’s home, but was told there was no new information and the case is still under investigation. Authorities haven’t filed charges against Wallace and the case is expected to be sent to a grand jury when the investigation is complete.
Latoiya Landers, Devin’s mother, told the Star-Telegram he was a fun-loving boy who had dreams of starting a clothing line with art he’d created. He made good grades in school and was excited about joining the basketball team, she said. He’d just recently had his physical done.
“He used to tell me, ‘Mamma, watch. I’m going to make something of myself,’” Landers said. “I told him, ‘Yes you are, but you’re going to stay in school, too.’”
Durwyn Lamb, a martial arts instructor and youth mentor, said he spoke with a group of Rosemont Middle School students, including Devin, two weeks before the teen’s death. Lamb was getting ready to go back to Rosemont on Dec. 14 when he got a message from Devin’s teacher saying that he’d been killed. Later, he learned the woman who shot Devin had reported he attempted to break into her home.
“Tragic,” Lamb said. “You know, young man 14 years old, and I seen something in him. I seen myself in him actually, and I just thought, man, he had something good about him that I could tell, it’s just misguided. And it’s just sad he lost his life that way.”
Wallace told KDFW that she wants people to know she was protecting her children.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “But at that point, I had to think about my babies.”
Wallace is now being evicted from her duplex for having a gun, KDFW reported. She was told she has 30 days to vacate the premises, and she’s worried the eviction will make it harder to find other housing.
“I feel like I’m back at square one,” she said to KDFW. “I was there for six years, and now I don’t know what to do.”
Harvard should fire black progressive Claudine Gay, and replace her with black conservative Carol Swain, the person whom Gay has plagiarized.
https://twitter.com/DanielAlmanPGH/status/1740050182463717412
Nuclear power would create more electricity, would use less than 1% as much land, and would work even when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. To call this 280 square mile monstrosity “green” is being incredibly dishonest.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/india-energy-project-solve-energy-150000402.html
India’s new energy project will solve energy needs for 18 million homes — and it will be so big, it will be visible from space
By Leo Collis
December 26, 2023
A huge new energy project in India is expected to deliver 30 gigawatts of renewable energy annually.
According to the Associated Press, it will be enough to supply the energy needs of 18 million homes in the country and will cover an area of 280 square miles in the salt desert of western India’s Gujarat state.
The solar and wind energy project will be as large as Singapore, and developers say it will be the world’s biggest renewable energy project and will even be visible from space.
With India announcing in 2022 a target for net zero emissions by 2070, the country needs to be ambitious. The AP said that the aim is to produce 500 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030 on the way to the wider target nearly half a century away.
Only 10% of India’s electricity is powered by renewable sources, the AP noted, with coal generating 70% of the country’s electricity. It is behind only China and the United States when it comes to energy-related pollution from dirty-fuel sources.
There are factors to consider with such a massive undertaking. Biodiversity in the area needs to be taken into account, with the vast expanse of land home to desert foxes and flamingoes as well as migratory birds that visit during the winter months.
Meanwhile, existing residents will be affected, with construction, increased activity, and a potential rise in tourism a worry for locals in surrounding villages.
So, the project will need to be undertaken responsibly, but the benefits are sure to be enormous.
With data from Statista putting India as the most populated country on the planet with nearly 1.5 billion residents, providing clean energy for its citizens is crucial to reducing the production of polluting gases that contribute to global heating.
As Reuters reported, European Union scientists have said 2023 was the warmest year on record, as much as 2.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the average temperature recorded between 1850 and 1900.
It’s clear, then, that to prevent further temperature rises that increase the likelihood of extreme weather conditions such as drought, flooding, and deadly storms, projects like this will be vital for the health of the planet and its inhabitants.
I’m looking forward to watching California environmentalists argue with each other over whether or not they should mine this lithium for electric cars
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/worlds-largest-ree-lithium-discovered-160012987.html
World’s Largest Reserve Of REE Lithium Discovered Beneath California’s Salton Sea: $540 Billion Motherlode Could Meet America’s Supply Demands For Decades
By Eric McConnell
December 26, 2023
When it comes to rare-earth elements (REEs), lithium stands out because of its usefulness and potential value. That’s why the Department of Energy (DOE) was jumping for joy when it discovered what is believed to be the world’s largest supply of lithium beneath California’s Salton Sea. The estimated 18 million-ton motherlode could be worth up to $540 billion and meet America’s demand for decades to come.
In the 1990s, lithium was perhaps most famous for being the title of a hit song by the band Nirvana. Fast forward 30 years, and Lithium has become famous as an indispensable element in the multibillion-dollar renewable energy industry. Lithium is a key component of the rechargeable batteries that power things like electric cars. Production of other important consumer products like cellular phones and solar energy panels also requires large amounts of lithium.
Without enough Lithium to power those batteries and other innovations, the world’s effort to fight climate change through renewable energy will be hampered. In a recent report, high-ranking DOE official Jeff Marootian said, “Lithium is vital to decarbonizing the economy and meeting President Biden’s goals of 50% electric vehicle adoption by 2030.” The problem with that is China currently dominates the global production of lithium.
A global rival such as China controlling the world’s supply of lithium runs counter to America’s strategic and economic interests. That’s why the DOE has been funding the exploration of lithium sources inside the United States. As part of that effort, it gave a $14.9 million grant to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy to study the area surrounding the Salton Sea, which straddles Riverside and Imperial counties in the California desert.
California Gov. Gavin Newsome was touring the Salton Sea with President Joe Biden to tout America’s renewable energy industry when he referred to the area as “the Saudi Arabia of lithium.” If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider that the DOE estimates there is enough lithium beneath the Salton Sea to provide batteries for more than 375 million electric vehicles (EVs).
The estimated 18 million tons of lithium would put America firmly in the lead in terms of supplying the global market. It could turbocharge EV and solar production and has the potential to give the United States an unprecedented level of energy independence.
If the lithium beneath the Salton Sea can be harvested and brought to market, America would no longer have to rely on nations like Saudi Arabia and China for its energy or automaking needs. America would also be much richer because lithium is worth an estimated $29,000 per ton. That would make the Salton Sea’s estimated 18 million gallons worth $540 billion.
A partnership between the U.S. government and Buffett has the potential to increase America’s production of lithium and profitability for the industry. That’s why Berkshire Hathaway Energy is hard at work. The company operates 10 of the Salton Sea’s geothermal power plants.
It is not alone. EnergySource and Controlled Thermal Resources are also operating in the area. If America becomes the global leader in lithium production, it could lead to a boom of lithium-based businesses that could add billions or trillions of dollars per year to the U.S. economy.
Progressive Democrat Greg Casar, who defunded Austin Police, ripped for requesting police patrols at home: ‘Height of hypocrisy’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/progressive-dem-defunded-austin-police-090048426.html
Progressive Dem who defunded Austin Police ripped for requesting police patrols at home: ‘Height of hypocrisy’
By Andrew Miller
December 20, 2023
A progressive congressman associated with “The Squad” who proudly voted to defund the Austin Police Department as a city council member and blasted the department just last week for alleged racist practices is under fire after requesting a police patrol at his home from the same department.
“It’s come to our attention that Anti police king of the defund movement in Austin @GregCasar who only last week called APD an agency with racist practices has requested enhanced patrols around his house for the next week,” the Austin Police Retired Officers Association posted on X Tuesday.
“We want everyone in Austin to feel safe,” the post added. “But this seems to us as the height of hypocrisy from the congressman. Maybe he should hire private security like his fellow squad members do. Sure seems like he wants the police in his neighborhood just not yours.”
Casar’s request was made through the United States Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., which forwarded the request to the Austin Police Department.
Casar was perhaps the most vocal driver of defunding the Austin Police Department in 2020 while he was a member of the city council. It led to a police shortage and a wave of officer retirements that critics say the city has still not recovered from.
We did it!!” Casar posted on X in August 2020. “Austin City Council just reduced APD’s budget by over $100 million *and* reinvested resources into our community’s safety and well-being.”
Additionally, Casar sent a letter last week to the Justice Department criticizing practices within the Austin Police Department, highlighting the “need for systemic reforms to the Department’s policies and practices of excessive and lethal use of force, racial discrimination, and discrimination against people with mental health conditions.”
News of the request for the security detail, which was confirmed by Fox News Digital, drew immediate criticism from Austin residents on social media, many suggesting the request was an example of hypocrisy.
“So @GregCasar believes APD is a racist institution that requires DOJ oversight but then requests more APD patrols around his house,” Austin personal injury attorney Adam Loewy posted on X. “Interesting juxtaposition.”
“Greg Casar is a fraud,” Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak posted on X.
Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, told Fox News Digital he believes Casar should receive extra protection if there are officers available to do it and there is a credible threat but added the request is the “height of hypocrisy.”
“A week ago, he was calling the Austin Police Department a racist department that targeted Black and brown people, and this week he’s asking the exact same department to do enhanced patrols around his house,” Farris said.
“It doesn’t matter what political party they’re in. If they ask us for our help, we will give it to them,” Farris added. “The last thing we want is something happening to them. My issue with it and the issue that most of my members are going to have with it is the fact that this guy, you know, it’s the whole squad thing, right? It’s the whole, ‘We hate the cops, we hate the cops, we hate the cops. Oh, please, come help us now.’ He is the architect. He is the architect of defund the cops in Austin. He started this whole mess.”
Casar’s office told Fox News Digital it does “not comment on active security matters related to the Congressman.”
“Our office has not been in communication with the Austin Police Department on this matter because these issues are handled by the United States Sergeant at Arms, who then works with U.S. Capitol Police and local law enforcement agencies.”
Casar’s office pointed to a statement from U.S. House Sergeant at Arms William McFarland that said, “The Sergeant at Arms takes the safety of Members of Congress very seriously.
“We ask the public and law enforcement agencies to not comment on specific security measures or active cases because doing so exposes potential vulnerabilities.”
A spokesperson for the United States Capitol Police told Fox News Digital it “does not discuss any of the potential security measures that are available to all of the members of Congress” due to “safety reasons.”
An Austin Police Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital it is “aware of the request made by Representative Greg Casar” and is “following the same protocol and assessment we would as with all requests.”
“Our agency takes all public safety concerns seriously. Our priority is having a secure and safe community for everyone to feel protected while maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information.”
Austin’s Soros-backed DA blasted after man charged with 7th DUI, killing 2 people released on bond
https://www.yahoo.com/news/austins-soros-backed-da-blasted-090054205.html
Austin’s Soros-backed DA blasted after man charged with 7th DUI, killing 2 people released on bond
December 20, 2023
Austin’s progressive district attorney is facing criticism in the community after a man who allegedly killed two while committing his 7th DUI is walking the streets after his charges and bond were reduced.
Roberto Rangel, 52, was arrested last year in Travis County, Texas, for his 7th DUI that resulted in the deaths of 22-year-old Kate Garcia and 23-year-old Mark Narvaez, Fox 7 Austin reported.
Rangel, who has been sentenced to over 14 years in prison for DUIs dating to 1989, reportedly pulled out of a Chick-fil-A parking lot in Austin at 2:45 a.m. and parked his car sideways in the road.
A motorcycle crashed into the parked vehicle, killing Narvaez and Garcia. Rangel was reportedly too intoxicated to participate in a sobriety test at the scene.
Fox 7 Austin reported that Rangel’s charge was reduced to DWI a few months after his arrest, and his bond was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000 before he was released. Additionally, Rangel’s bond conditions were eased earlier this year, and his portable alcohol monitor was removed.
“We don’t understand why he’s out,” Elida Zamora, Garcia’s mother, told Fox 7 Austin this week.
“I think that a guy like him is basically making a mockery out of our legal system,” Mark Narvaez’s father, Hector, told the outlet.
News of Rangel’s release sparked intense criticism from Austin locals who say they are fed up with Garza’s progressive agenda.
“A precise example of how DA Jose Garza’s policies are DIRECTLY threatening public safety,” Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak posted on X. “Imagine a DA office REDUCING charges for someone arrested for their 6th DUI.”
Austin criminal defense attorney Daniel Betts, who is running as a Republican candidate against Garza for Travis County DA, told Fox News Digital that while Garza’s office did object to lowering Rangel’s bond in July, it should have pushed for a more significant charge than DWI in the first place.
“Yet another example of how every day, in every way, Jose Garza works to make our community less safe,” Betts said. “While he pays lip service to victims, he fails to protect the community and uphold the law on a multiple homicide, not even bothering to attempt to indict it as anything other than a simple DWI. Travis County has been sold a bill of goods, and it’s time that the voters wake up to reality and show him the door.”
An Austin Police officer who asked to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital officers are “frustrated if not more” because this type of situation happens “day in and day out,” which continues to impact the victims of these tragedies.
“Very avoidable tragedies too often caused by the prosecution side of the house. For the last three years, we have seen that side falter and fail under Jose and Delia Garza’s policies,” the officer said. “It’s time our citizens pay attention, educate themselves and vote for public safety … so they and the visitors of our great city get the public safety they deserve.”
DA Garza has faced criticism in the past for how his office has handled a variety of crimes, including driving drunk. Last year, a man who pleaded guilty to driving drunk in a crash that killed his female passenger was sentenced to 10 days in jail, sparking outrage from many in the community.
“Another example of Travis County prosecutors going easy on violent criminals,” the Austin Police Association, a union representing more than 1,800 Austin Police officers, tweeted in response to the sentence. “Victims lives are marginalized. Where is the justice for the families & loved ones of the victim?”
Dennis Farris, president of the Austin Police Retired Officers Association told Fox News Digital this situation “again proves that this district attorney has no business in office.”
“He has no experience prosecuting cases, and you’ve got somebody who has been arrested for DWI seven times,” Farris said. “He should have been in prison already anyway. He was out, he was driving and he killed two people. And this district attorney has allowed this guy, they didn’t push for a high enough bar to keep this guy in jail.
“This guy should have been charged with murder, not just intoxication manslaughter. He should have been charged with murder. And this guy should not be out walking the streets because he’s been arrested seven times for DWI. He’s got a problem.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Garza’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
A 4-year-old named Gor Adamyan was shot and killed because Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon refused to lock up a guy with “a long criminal rap sheet” named Byron Burkhart
https://abc7.com/lancaster-road-rage-shooting-vigil/14202803/
Lancaster road-rage killing suspect makes 1st court appearance as bail set at $5M
By Leo Stallworth
December 19, 2023
LANCASTER, Calif. (KABC) — A man suspected of killing a 4-year-old boy in an apparent road-rage shooting in Lancaster made his first court appearance on Tuesday and was ordered held on more than $5 million bail.
Byron Burkhart appeared briefly in a Lancaster courtroom as a judge read the charges, which include one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder with use of a firearm.
Burkhart is accused of firing eight times into the car of a family driving on Sierra Highway on Friday, killing 4-year-old Gor Adamyan in the backseat.
He was arrested along with a 29-year-old woman – described as his girlfriend – who was believed to be in the car with him during the shooting. The woman was later released from custody and is not facing charges at this time.
The incident began around 7:30 p.m. as Gor’s family was driving on Sierra Highway, the family’s father at the wheel, and encountered the suspects in traffic.
“During the incident, the suspect driver cut them off and then began following them through several surface streets,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. “While being pursued by the suspects, the victim driver slowed his vehicle, at which time the suspect driver pulled up along the passenger side of the victim’s car and began shooting.”
He fired eight shots, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. One bullet struck the boy, who died a short time later at the hospital. The victim’s vehicle camera captured the suspect’s license plate, according to the DA’s office.
Authorities used technology recently installed by the city of Lancaster from Flock Safety which includes license-plate readers to find the suspect’s vehicle within hours after the shooting.
Burkhart has a long criminal rap sheet.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said preventing crimes like this starts with getting tougher on lesser crimes first.
“This isn’t going to be the last 4 year old that’s shot down,” Parris said. “I mean, the reality is that people have to be held accountable when they commit the lower-end crimes.”
Burkhart is expected to return to court next month for his arraignment.
A vigil was held for the boy Monday night.
“Fight against this violence and killing,” said Marine Minasyan, a family friend. “Stop murdering.”
Four people were murdered because Wisconsin refused to lock up a serial drunk driver named Scott C. Farmer
https://autos.yahoo.com/wisconsin-mans-fifth-drunk-driving-201735732.html
A Wisconsin Man’s Fifth Drunk Driving Incident Killed Four People
By Andy Kalmowitz
December 19, 2023
A Wisconsin man is facing a slew of charges including operating while intoxicated for a crash that killed four people on December 16. If convicted, this would be at least Scott C. Farmer’s fifth drunk driving offense, and the case is shining a light on the state’s drunk driving regulations, according to NBC 26.
Farmer was driving his pickup truck westbound in an eastbound lane in Weyanwega, Wisconsin when he crashed head-on into an SUV with four people in it. Those four siblings — 25-year-old Daniel Gonzalez, 23-year-old Fabian Gonzalez, 14-year-old Lilian Gonzalez and 9-year-old Daniela Gonzalez — were all killed, according to The Kansas City Star. Three of the four siblings were pronounced dead at the scene, and Daniel was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Farmer told police after he crashed that he “just spun out” and he “didn’t hit anybody. When asked how much he had to drink, he said “a lot.” Police say they found an open bottle of vodka in the pickup truck. Because of his four previous OWI convictions, he was restricted to a .02 BAC, according to The Star.
There lies the problem… this will be his fifth. NBC 26 explains how it could get to this point:
A significant factor contributing to this issue is Wisconsin’s unique approach to the first offense of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI). Unlike other states, Wisconsin treats the first OWI offense as a civil ordinance violation rather than a criminal offense. This legal distinction has been a point of contention for victims, families and advocacy organizations for decades.
Local criminal defense attorney Aaron Schenk from Schenk Law Firm, LLC in Green Bay, shared insights on how Wisconsin’s laws impact repeat offenders. He highlighted the discretionary nature of revoking a license, even after multiple OWI convictions.
“Since we’re so easy on it on offense, number one, things are going to gradually increase and there’s not going to be a whole lot of wiggle room as we move forward. So when you get to your second, third offense, you’re dealing with mandatory jail time, if you get convicted, you’re dealing with a mandatory driver’s license revocation, you’re dealing with a mandatory ignition interlock device, and then when you get to a fourth offense, it becomes a felony. And then when you move to a fifth or sixth defense, you’re dealing with the presumptive minimum period in prison. So that’s kind of how the penalties accelerate from one to five and then beyond,” Schenk says.
It’s fairly easy to see how Wisconsin OWI laws can be seen as either a deterrent or a slap on the wrist — which isn’t where you want to be when it comes to drunk driving.
In 2022, 184 people were killed in impaired driving crashes, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
I solved the December 7, 2023 Wordle in just two guesses!
I solved the December 7, 2023, Wordle in just two guesses!
My guesses were STRAP and SLEEP.
Here’s a screenshot:
In Los Angeles, a 49-unit apartment complex is taking 17 years to complete, the result of complex laws that exacerbated California’s affordable housing crisis
https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angeles-49-unit-apartment-014226893.html
In Los Angeles, a 49-unit apartment complex is taking 17 years to complete, the result of complex laws that exacerbated California’s affordable housing crisis
By John L. Dorman
December 17, 2023
For decades, California has struggled with a persistent affordable housing shortage.
A WSJ report detailed how one LA housing project was unable to get off the ground for over 15 years.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has made it a priority to obtain project approvals in a timely manner.
Los Angeles has long attracted new residents with its warm weather, abundant outdoor amenities, and the lure of opportunities in the media and entertainment industry.
But the state of California has also become widely known for its severe housing crunch, with affordability being the leading issue that has driven many natives and longtime residents to inland communities and lower-cost states.
According to The Wall Street Journal, California’s complex regulations have played a major role in delaying the construction of a 49-unit apartment complex known as Lorena Plaza in the Boyle Heights neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles.
In 2007, A Community of Friends, a local nonprofit organization, was given land to build a small affordable housing development, but construction on the project only began roughly a year ago.
The project was slowed down by the need for various approvals from politicians and commissions and higher construction costs caused by multiple delays, the Journal reported.
The city wants to build 450,000 new units of housing by 2029, according to The Los Angeles Times.
But the absence of housing remains a significant obstacle for many Angelenos right now. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, in their 2023 report, estimated that roughly 46,000 people in the city are experiencing homelessness on any given right.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a former congresswoman who this month completed her first year in City Hall, said last December that the glacial pace of progress regarding Lorena Plaza was emblematic of policies she sought to reshape as mayor.
“How on earth could we expect to house 40,000 [homeless] people if we continue to do business as usual?” the mayor said at the Lorena Plaza site at the time, per The Journal.
Bass has prioritized projects that only contain affordable units, but there’s still a need for more subsidies to build additional buildings, per The Journal. And there’s also the issue of some cities in California carefully scrutinizing projects to such a degree that long construction delays are inevitable if the projects even get off the ground.
According to a UCLA and CSU-Northridge analysis of building permits from 2010 to 2022, constructing an apartment building in California took an average of four years during that period.
According to the analysis, 36% of the projects awarded permits in the state during that timeframe have yet to be finished.
“Thinking about building in a city like Los Angeles and dealing with the politics, navigating the bureaucracy, it’s the last place I want to be,” Pacific Companies CEO Caleb Roope told The Journal.
A 1970s-era state law permitting an appeals process for environmental reviews further halted construction at the Lorena Plaza project before it was revived.
However, Bass has pushed for major changes in Los Angeles that would seriously limit the sort of delays that previously plagued the Lorena Plaza project, per The Journal.
And Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slew of laws in October to help ease the state’s housing crisis, according to Business Insider.
Environmental appeals can no longer drag on for a year or more, and hearings must be conducted within a 75-day timeframe. And the zoning approvals for affordable housing projects are occurring more swiftly, sometimes within a few months, as part of an executive order signed by Bass.
And yet one more person has been murdered because Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza refuses to lock up violent criminals. This is becoming quite a pattern.
https://yahoo.com/news/soros-backed-da-slammed-homeless-231358237.html
Soros-backed DA slammed after homeless man released on violent offense charged with murder
By Bradford Betz
December 17, 2023
The Austin Police Association is pointing the finger at Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza after a homeless man – who was let back out on the street, despite violent assault charges – was arrested once again for allegedly stabbing another homeless man to death.
The case concerns Hilario Adrian, a 56-year-old homeless man who was arrested in April after he was involved in a violent altercation with another homeless man.
Court documents say Adrian attacked the other homeless man with a golf club, and threatened him with a hatchet. He was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the Travis County Jail on $40,000 bond.
But just four and half months later, the judge reduced Adrian’s bond to $1, and he was released back on the street.
On Dec. 10, while out on bond, Adrian was arrested for allegedly stabbing another man over a disagreement about meth, according to an arrest affidavit. He’s now back in the Travis County Jail for First Degree Murder on a $1 million bond.
“The District Attorney is failing to do his job and as a result, violent repeat offenders are released into our city, now someone is dead as a result,” income APA President Michael Bullock told Fox News Digital in a statement. “This was preventable. People want to feel safe in their city and despite the efforts of law enforcement to hold violent criminals accountable, prosecutors seem disinterested in doing their part to keep our city safe.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Travis County District Attorney’s office for the chance to respond to Bullock’s comments.
Garza was backed by progressive billionaire George Soros’ financial network during his campaign for office in 2020.
Soros contributed $652,000 to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC in the months leading up to the 2020 Travis County DA election, according to campaign finance records. That same PAC spent almost $1 million on digital and mail advertisements to help Garza’s campaign.
Adrian’s arrest came ahead of an announcement from defense attorney Jeremy Sylestine that he planned to run as a Democratic candidate to unseat Garza as Travis County DA.
Toronto city council votes unanimously to change the name of its town square from one group of slavery supporters to a different group of slavery supporters
https://tnc.news/2023/12/15/toronto-slave-trading-dundas1/
Toronto used word from slave-trading African tribe to replace Dundas
By Andrew Lawton
December 15, 2023
Toronto city council voted unanimously on Thursday to change the name of Toronto’s world famous Yonge-Dundas Square to “Sankofa Square” to distance it from Henry Dundas’ purported connection to the transatlantic slave trade.
The word used by the City of Toronto, True North has learned, originated from a tribe known for its role in the slave trade.
While Dundas was, in fact, an abolitionist, the Akan people of Ghana, from whom the word “sankofa” comes, were active participants in the slave trade and imported slaves to develop their own economy.
As scholar A. Norman Klein, reviewing the work of renowned Ghana historian Ivor Wilks, wrote, the Akan “exchanged their gold for these slaves, who rewarded their Akan masters by creating an ‘agricultural revolution’ during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
https://twitter.com/AndrewLawton/status/1735509933431329174
The Akan people imported slaves to help clear their forests, where they searched for gold, and also sold slaves to Europeans, fuelling the transatlantic slave trade.
In 2006, Ghana apologized to descendents of slaves for its role in the slave trade.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the name change is part of the city’s commitment to “confronting anti-Black racism, advancing truth, reconciliation and justice, and building a more inclusive and equitable City.”
“The City of Toronto is committed to acknowledging the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery, while focusing on mitigating costs and impacts on residents and businesses,” Chow said. “Adopting the name Sankofa Square recognizes the need to reflect on and reclaim teachings from the past, and enables us to move forward together.”
A primer on the “sankofa” concept by NC State University’s African American Cultural Center says it originates from “King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa” and translates to, “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.”
Historians, even those on the political left, tend to agree that Dundas was a supporter of the abolition of slavery. Controversy around him stems from an amendment he proposed to an abolition motion from William Wilberforce to make it more “gradual,” but he said in doing so it was because he thought that was the most effective way to end slavery. Given it took more than 50 years from that point for the transatlantic slave trade to end, he was likely right.
Dundas also called on African leaders to stop their complicity in the slave trade, which they didn’t do at the time.
Despite the city’s historic revisionism of Henry Dundas and his legacy, it said in a statement that the “Sankofa” word was inspired by a reverence for history.
“The concept of Sankofa, originating in Ghana, refers to the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past, which enables people to move forward together,” the city’s announcement said.
Toronto will also be stripping Dundas’ name from two subway stations and a library next year.
People on the radical left never complain about slavery and colonialism when it’s carried out by Muslim and Arab countries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP-CRXROorw
“Donated organs meant to be used for organ transplants were delayed in transit due to the protest”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/80-demonstrators-facing-charges-over-033958217.html
80 demonstrators facing charges over Bay Bridge protest that halted traffic
By O. Gloria Okorie
December 15, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO – Eighty individuals are facing charges over their participation in a pro-Palestine protest last month that brought traffic to a standstill for hours on the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland to San Francisco.
On the morning of Nov. 16, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the Bay Bridge demanding a ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza during the APEC summit. Eighty will be charged “in connection with an unlawful public assembly on the Bay Bridge,” five misdemeanor counts of “false imprisonment, refusing to comply with a peace officer, unlawful public assembly, refusing to disperse, and obstruction of street, sidewalk or other place open to public.”
The protest started around 7:45 a.m. and ended before noon, resulting in 70 arrests and 29 towed cars at the time.
“While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech can not compromise public safety. The demonstration on the Bay Bridge that snarled traffic for hours had a tremendous impact on those who were stuck on the bridge for hours and required tremendous public resources to resolve. I would like to commend the California Highway Patrol and San Francisco Sheriff’s Department for their work to peacefully resolve this incident,” said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins in a statement.
During the protest, at least 200 protesters chained themselves together to the bridge before intentionally throwing their car keys into the bay.
California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel told KTVU the protest was “very well planned.” However, CHP Chief Ezery Beauchamp said later that they were not caught off-guard by the protest and that 150 officers responded to the scene, loading protesters onto buses to be cited and released.
Donated organs meant to be used for organ transplants were delayed in transit due to the protest, according to a spokesperson for UCSF. However, the delay was not expected to “affect the outcome for [the] patients.”
Those cited and released that day are required to appear in court for arraignments throughout next week.
After a homeowner shot and killed a burglar, the mother of the dead burglar said, “My son was not a criminal.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhLVlIB4fng
Three people were murdered because Las Vegas made this child molester wear an electronic ankle monitor instead of putting him in jail
https://yahoo.com/news/victims-northwest-las-vegas-murder-003429656.html
Victims in northwest Las Vegas murder-suicide identified by coroner
By Stephanie Overton
December 12, 2023
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified the victims in a northwest Las Vegas murder-suicide. Four people were shot and killed, while a fifth clings to life in a local hospital.
On Monday, Dec. 11 at around 10:03 a.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were called to the 7500 block of Oso Blanca Road near Durango Drive and Veterans Memorial Highway.
According to Lieutenant Robert Price from the LVMPD, a man called 911 after he went to the apartment complex to check on his brother. When he went into the apartment, he found several people inside that were shot.
Arriving officers from the Northwest area command found five people with gunshot wounds, a man, an older woman, and three children under the age of 14.
One of the children was an 11-year-old boy, a family member told 8 News Now. He was found “clinging to life” and medical took them to a local hospital, police said.
The victims were identified Tuesday as:
Schinara Patterson, 34
Cause of Death: Multiple gunshot wounds of head
Manner of Death: Homicide
Ki’Ziah Cone, 14
Cause of Death: Multiple gunshot wounds of head
Manner of Death: Homicide
Zi’Myra Patterson, 6
Cause of Death: Gunshot wound of head
Manner of Death: Homicide
Marvin Ray Patterson, 42
Cause of Death: Contact gunshot wound of head
Manner of Death: Suicide
8 News Now Investigators sources confirmed the shooter was Marvin Patterson. Police said he was on house arrest, and the 8 News Now Investigators confirmed that Patterson was accused of sex crimes against children and was wearing an ankle monitor.
Patterson was arrested in October of 2022, Las Vegas Justice Court records showed. His original bail was set at $100,000 with high-level electronic monitoring, in addition to an order to surrender his passport and stay away from children under the age of 18.
Approximately two months later, Judge Diana Sullivan reduced the monetary bail to $10,000, with the other requirements remaining.
Court records show Patterson was charged with nine felony charges, including five counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14, two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16 years of age, one count of lewdness with a child under the age of 16, and one count of first-degree kidnapping of a minor. The crimes were alleged to have taken place from 2013 to 2022.
A vigil was held in the northwest valley on Tuesday evening.
Family and friends came together to share stories about Schinara Patterson and her children.
“This was not supposed to happen. She was sweet, kind, do anything for you,” Schinara’s mother Jamesetta Bernoudy expressed. “If he would have been in jail none of this would have happened. Where he was supposed to be, I don’t think they should have let him out at all.”
Schinara’s sister described the family’s love for her sister, her nieces, and a nephew who remained in the hospital Tuesday.
“She was there no matter who you were, how long she knew you, if she had it, she would give it to you,” Micheala Bernoudy recalled. “Zi’myra, she was sweet she didn’t have a mean bone in her body. Ki’ziah was goofy, she loved to draw. He’s still fighting we are praying for him, he is going to pull through, he is strong,” Bernoudy added.
Family and friends told 8 News Now they are planning a fundraiser event on Dec. 14 at noon at 1000 North Martin Luther King Boulevard with Trap Wingz food truck.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 