Posts Tagged ‘Crime’

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Murderer in a Coma. I Know It’s Serious.

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

Hey, remember Convicted murderer, Democratic fundraiser, and accused heroin dealer Amado Pardo?

He’s been released to hospice care, According to his attorney, he’s “not been mentally responsive since December. ” Hmmmm. Maybe. I’m remembering all those sick gangsters suddenly coming down with an amazing array of ailments in Casino.

Also: “On Thursday, Pardo’s wife Amanda Pardo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. She has not yet been sentenced.

Interestingly, a “Tish Pardo” commented on the previous post:

Have you ever heard the saying “don’t judge a person unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”? You are very quick to judge Mayo apparently you have all of the “facts”. Yes he’s a convicted murderer, do you know the circumstances? Do you care to hear them? He may not have made the best choices, but he was a good man. He did his time for the murder convictions, you know what the problem is with society? They don’t let people change their lives for the better. If you’ve been convicted of a crime you might as well be a leper. Mayo employed people no one else would, he expected them to work to earn their pay, he helped people. Im not saying he’s a saint, but he used his abilities to help others and give back to the community. A convicted felon turned pillar of the community and here you are degrading him and his accomplishments because of his past.Well, his future is on the rocks because of what people think they know, law enforcement has the word of one man/woman and a lot of circumstantial evidence. But go ahead

It’s a very special type of pleading indeed that includes the phrase “Yes, he’s a convicted murderer.” Perhaps Ms. Pardo could comment below on how Amado Pardo is innocent of the heroin distribution charges, despite his wife having plead guilty to the same crime…

(Subject line hattip.)

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Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Texas | 1 Comment »

LinkSwarm for 1/11/13

Friday, January 11th, 2013

Between work and the TPPF Policy Orientation, it’s going to be a busy day, so here’s a quick Friday LinkSwarm:

  • How bad did you think 2012’s economy was? Guess what? It was even worse than you thought.
  • Profile of Jim DeMint’s replacement, new South Carolina Senator Tim Scott: “One of the most threatening places to be in politics is a black conservative…there are so many liberals who want to continue to reinforce a stereotype that doesn’t exist about America. That somehow, some way, if you’re a Republican you’re a racist and if you’re black, there’s no chance for you in society.”
  • Phil Gramm on how wind subsidies screw up the economy.
  • Obama played Ed Koch for a schmuck.
  • George Will on why Republicans should push for a balanced budget amendment. “No politically conceivable or economically feasible middle-class tax rate can fund the entitlement state.”
  • Obama doesn’t think he has a spending problem, just like Lindsay Lohan doesn’t think she has a drinking problem.
  • A story of fake job shenanigans from a government employment center. “We were used by a bogus company to rake in funding by the state. It’s like a full blown industry here to pass around jobless people and keep them from getting real jobs.”
  • 35 years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times exposed the city’s corruption in the Mirage tavern series. Does anyone think Chicago is any less corrupt today? Why don’t they have the balls to do something like that now? (Hat tip: Dwight.)
  • I think Bloomberg just hates people.
  • Washington is booming on your money.
  • The homeless are responsible for 35% of downtown Austin’s violent crime.

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    Posted in Austin, Budget, Crime, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »

    (Austin City Council is) Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law

    Monday, January 7th, 2013

    I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the SuperGeniuses on the Austin City Council (along with allies among the Travis County apparatchiks) have gotten it into their heads that it’s just a swell idea to ban gun shows within the city and county limits. Because I’m sure so many criminals are buying their guns legally at a gun show. (Hint: NICS is not, in fact, a misspelling of that TV show with the hot Goth chick.)

    Over at Whipped Cream Difficulties, Dwight has taken the bull by the horns, and provided not only a list of reasons why that’s a really bad idea, but a list of contract addresses for City Council critters, allowing those of you who live within the limits of the City of Austin (I don’t) a chance to express your extremely displeasure with this noxious and ill-advised gun-grabbing regulatory gambit.

    Oh wait, did I say noxious and ill-advised? Add to that one more adjective: illegal.

    As Dwight notes, a gun show ban “will expose the city to legal action under section 229 of the Texas local government code.” Let’s take a look at 229, shall we? The relevant portion states:

    (a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 43.002 of this code and Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:

    (1) the transfer, private ownership, keeping, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or firearm supplies

    Now, I’m not a simple country lawyer (or a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid, either), but banning gun shows sounds precisely like adopting regulations pertaining to the transfer of guns to me.

    Much smarter than your average Austin City Counci Critter

    They’d have done better listening to this, er, guy.

    It’s like the entire Austin City Council parading through the center of the state capitol wearing KICK ME signs. And the state legislature just might take them up on it.

    On the other hand, if The People’s Republic of Austin is foolish enough to push this through, I’m sure there are venues in Williamson County that would love to have that business…

    (Subject line hat-tip)

    Email and Phone Numbers: Let Them Know What You Think of Their Illegal Gun-Show Banning Ploy

    Thanks to Dwight, here’s some contact information for Travis County officials, who are evidently voting Tuesday:

  • Judge Samuel T. Biscoe (512) 854-9555 Sam.Biscoe@co.travis.tx.us
  • Ron Davis (512) 854-9111 ron.davis@co.travis.tx.us
  • Sarah Eckhardt (512) 854-9222 sarah.eckhardt@co.travis.tx.us
  • Gerald Daugherty (512) 854-9333 Gerald.Daugherty@co.travis.tx.us
  • Margaret Gomez (512) 854-9444 Margaret.Gomez@co.travis.tx.us

    • And Austin City Council Critters:

  • Lee Leffingwell 512-974-2250 lee.leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Sheryl Cole 512-974-2266 sheryl.cole@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Chris Riley 512-974-2260 chris.riley@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Mike Martinez 512-974-2264 mike.martinez@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Kathie Tovo 512-974-2255 kathie.tovo@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Laura Morrison 512-974-2258 laura.morrison@ci.austin.tx.us
  • Bill Spelman 512-974-2256 bill.spelman@ci.austin.tx.us

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    Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Guns, Texas | 6 Comments »

    Democrats Can’t Help Wanting to Ban Guns. It’s What They Do.

    Tuesday, December 18th, 2012

    Like a foolish dog returning to eat its own sick, liberals can’t stay away from expressing their long pent-up desire to disarm law-abiding Americans. Their central governing principle is to give more money and power to the federal government (or the UN, when they can get away with it), and independent gun owners stand in their way. The Sandy Hook shooting victims weren’t even in the ground before Democratic lawmakers were calling on Obama to “exploit” (their words) the tragedy to push for more gun control.

    Liberals seem to regard guns like Sauron’s One Ring: as an evil object of magical power that automatically warps and corrupts the user. Frequently, they also seem to see people disagreeing with them as a sign of mental illness. (Check Twitter for how many call 2nd Amendment activists “sick” or “insane.”) I suspect that makes it harder for them to recognize real mental illness. And when they say they want a “dialog” over guns, what they really mean is “Shut up and hand over your guns and I’ll temporarily stop calling you deranged, bloodthirsty killers.”

    When the plan to deter gun use by the criminal and insane starts out “Step 1: Disarm the Sane and Law-Abiding,” I think I see a flaw in their brilliant scheme. It’s as if there were a rash of food poisonings from unlicensed food carts, and the liberal solution was to ban an all food carts.

    Two years ago I said that when push comes to shove, there’s no such thing as a pro-gun Democrat, and this week West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is the prime example, “A” rating from the NRA notwithstanding. Expect any pro-gun Democrats to either undergo a mysterious conversion to the gun-grabbing cause, or get pushed out of the party, just like nominally “pro-life Democrats” either caved (Bart Stupak and his bloc) or were pushed out (pretty much every national election over the last 20 years).

    Other Sandy Hook shooting fallout:

  • David Kopel notes that “Today, Americans are safer from violent crime, including gun homicide, than they have been at any time since the mid-1960s.” (Kopel is author of The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy, which I recommend for anyone serious about looking at both sides of the debate over gun control.)
  • Remember that the problem of random mass murder is not a new one. “Mass murder was just as common during the 1920s and 30s as it has been since the mid-1960s.”
  • It’s hard to tell from the media reports, but the .223 Bushmaster reportedly used by shooter Adam Lanza does not appear to have any of the cosmetic features covered by the Clinton-era “assault weapons” ban (i.e., any two of a folding stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, barrel shroud or flash suppressor). Therefore it’s not an “assault weapon.” (The liberal definition of an “assault weapon” is “any gun that looks scary.”)
  • And the result of the Clinton “assault weapon” ban? As per Clayton E. Cramer, “he policy has been tried and found wanting.”
  • Every single recent mass killing save one has taken place in a “gun free” zone.
  • John Lott, author of the essential More Guns, Less Crime, says that we should arm teachers and ban “gun free zones.”
  • Notice how the repeated failure of gun control is always used as the justification for more gun control? Which is pretty much liberal policy on every issue (welfare spending, regulation, etc.) in a nutshell.
  • The record of gun control in reducing crime in other countries is also generally one of failure as well.
  • Here in Austin, the owner of Thai Noodle House (probably the worst Thai restaurant in town) declared that “I don’t care if a bunch of white kids got killed.” Strangely enough this did not win him many friends, and the restaurant is currently closed.
  • For still another view of the problem, read “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother,” probably the most passed-around article in the blogsphere and Twitter this week.

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Guns | 2 Comments »

    Firearm Releated Homicides Have Declined for Five Straight Years

    Saturday, December 15th, 2012

    So sayeth the FBI.

  • 2007: 10,129 Firearm Homicides
  • 2008: 9,528 Firearm Homicides
  • 2009: 9,199 Firearm Homicides
  • 2010: 8,874 Firearm Homicides
  • 2011: 8,583 Firearm Homicides

    • They may have declined for longer than that, but the table only goes back to 2007, and the 2012 data period obviously hasn’t ended yet.

    Between concealed carry laws and DC. vs. Heller, more law-abiding citizens are carrying guns than ever before, but gun violence isn’t up, it’s down.

    I guess John Lott was right.

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    Posted in Crime, Guns | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for 12/14/12

    Friday, December 14th, 2012

    A quick LinkSwarm for a Friday night:

  • Ever notice how after every killing spree, liberals are quick to proclaim that no one needs an “assault rifle” for self defense? Well, this guy did, facing three armed assailants breaking in, and is still alive because of it.
  • There are a number of spree killers who have racked up high death tolls without using a gun. Or using a gun obtained illegally in a country where they’re banned.
  • Dear Senior Citizens: union jobs are more sacred than your very lives. Signed, a Democratic Judge.
  • I’m shocked, shocked to find out that the SEIU committed vote fraud during the Wisconsin recall election.
  • In Montreal, it’s not enough for you to be bilingual. Your dog has to be as well.

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    Posted in Crime, unions | No Comments »

    Texas vs. California: 12/12/12 Edition

    Thursday, December 13th, 2012

    This was supposed to go up last night, but there was a glitch. Ten hours late sounds about right for California…

  • California leads the nation in outrageous pay and benefits for unionized state employees. Including $822,302 a year for a single prison psychiatrist.
  • Calpers to taxpayers and bond-holders: DROP DEAD. We’re getting ours, jack.
  • Since California has hiked tax rates tax revenues have decline. Those unwilling to learn from the Laffer Curve are doomed to live through it.
  • Living in California means not being able to afford police.
  • The bankrupt California city of San Bernardino has had 45 murders this year.
  • Bankrupt Stockton has had 68.
  • And Los Angeles is shuttering courthouses because they can’t afford them.
  • The Blue State Suicide Pact.
  • Movie and TV production is leaving California.
  • “Why would you leave $25 million on the table?” Oh gee, I don’t know, but maybe because you have to pay back $34 million on your risky $2.5 million loan? Math, liberal! Do you speak it?
  • California Blue Shield wants to hikes rates as much as 20%. How’s that ObamaCare working out for you?
  • People are still leaving California…and Texas is the most popular destination.
  • Texas was once again the destination of choice for more people moving within the United States as a whole, with some 515,000 people moving here in 2012. (Hat tip: Push Junction.)
  • Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Mario Loyola talks about how unions become sanctioned government cartels.
  • Speaking of TPPF, they linked to this Dallas Fed report, which shows that the Texas economy continues to hum along. “Texas added 22,900 jobs in October, lowering its unemployment rate in October to 6.6 percent, down from 6.8 percent in September and 1.3 percent below the national average of 7.9 percent.”

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    Posted in Budget, Crime, Economics, ObamaCare, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »

    Missing Link Between the Benghazi Scandal and the Petraeus Sex Scandal

    Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

    If, as resigned CIA Director David Petraeus’ mistress Paula Broadwell mentions in the clip below, the attack on the Benghazi consulate was an attempt to free prisoners being held for interrogation, then it adds a new dimension to the scandal, as explained by Charles Krauthammer.

    If the interrogation story is true, there are at least four interlocking scandals here:

    1. The Obama Administration standing by watching while an American consulate was under attack for seven hours without lifting a finger to help as four Americans died.
    2. That same Administration lying about the cause of the attack to both congress and the American public.
    3. The same Administration has known about the CIA director being compromised by an extramarital affair since at least summer and did nothing about it for fear of jeopardizing Obama’s reelection campaign. The only other explanation is that everyone in the intelligence community is manifestly incompetent. (“Hey, should I tell Obama his CIA director is having an affair? Nah. He’s got that golf swing to worry about.”)
    4. Either the intelligence community, or else the Obama Administration itself, has been ignoring Executive Order 13491, issued January 22, 2009, which states (in part) “The CIA shall close as expeditiously as possible any detention facilities that it currently operates and shall not operate any such detention facility in the future.”

      5. I think the Administration standing by for seven hours while four Americans died without lifting a finger to help them is still the biggest scandal. Guess I’m just old-fashioned that way. Sadly, I get the impression that the last point is the one the Obama Administration was trying hardest to cover up.

      But all deserve investigation.

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    Posted in Crime, Foreign Policy, Obama Scandals, video | 1 Comment »

    “Democrat of the Year” Convicted of Stealing Money From Mentally Handicaped Elderly Woman

    Saturday, October 27th, 2012

    If you put this in a novel, the editor would reject it for the symbolism being too heavy-handed.

    Estelle Carson, the Denver woman named the “Jefferson County Democrat of the Year,” has been convicted of stealing money from an elderly woman with physical and mental disabilities.

    “A Jefferson County jury on Thursday convicted Carson of identity theft and theft from an at-risk person, both felonies, according to Pam Russell, spokeswoman for the district attorney. Carson, 67, is scheduled to be sentenced in December.”

    And what was so vitally important that Carson had to steal money from the handicapped?

    “Carson, who met the victim last year, wrote three checks from the woman’s account, including one to pay for Carson’s cable, Internet and phone when they were about to be canceled.”

    On Carson’s Facebook page, she says that “My president needs four more years.” [Insert your own Obama stealing people’s futures metaphor here.]

    A picture of the convicted felon from that page. Note the tie-dye t-shirt.

    “C’mon people now/Smile on your brother/Everybody get together/Try to rob one another right now.”

    Also from that page (a screen cap in case she takes it down):

    Also from her Facebook page: “I am out walking and knocking for GOTV from now until November 6.”

    Maybe. The article doesn’t say whether the judge let her out on bail before her sentencing.

    (Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.)

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats | No Comments »

    LinkSwarm for October 15, 2012

    Monday, October 15th, 2012

    Doing a bunch of stuff, so here’s a more-or-less random linkSwarm:

  • A funny thing happened on the way to the death of conservatism.
  • Romney might pick up one electoral vote in Maine.
  • Michael Totten and Sohrab Ahmari take down Tariq Ramadan.
  • In the Texas House, it’s a band of conservative brothers vs. Texas Speaker Joe Straus.
  • Journalist shocked that all his fellow journalists are suddenly spewing vitriol at him and calling him a traitor because he’s decided to vote for Romney. Also confirms the overwhelming liberal bias in the newsroom.
  • Police arrest members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang across the state, including one police officer in Houston who was providing them guns.

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    Posted in Crime, Democrats, Media Watch | No Comments »

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