Posts Tagged ‘Houston’
Wednesday, August 30th, 2023
When radical leftwing city officials push insane, impossible policies, are they merely engaging in virtue signaling, hope to profit off graft for the issue, or want to inflict as much pain on ordinary Americans as possible?
That’s the question to ask about Houston and Austin signing on to an agenda to eliminate meat and dairy consumption by 2030.
Two Texas cities are participating in an emissions-cutting program that seeks to end meat and dairy consumption.
According to the organization, “C40 is a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis.”
Although largely funded by Democrat billionaire Michael Bloomberg, C40 has other donors including FedEx, Google, and the Clinton Foundation.
Both Austin and Houston are listed as participating cities, with “membership operat[ing] on performance-based requirements, not on fees.”
Houston is a “Megacity,” according to the C40 membership ranking. Megacities are “Cities that show exceptional climate leadership at the global level, and have an urban population that currently/is expected to exceed 3 million or more people by 2030.”
Austin is in the “Innovator” membership category, which includes “cities that show exceptional climate leadership at the global level, but do not meet the population/size criteria of a Megacity.”
Altogether, the participating cities make up a quarter of the global economy.
According to C40 Cities Executive Director Mark Watts, “As always, C40 has adopted a science-based approach and that science is clear: average consumption-based emissions in C40 cities must halve within the next 10 years. In our wealthiest and highest consuming cities that means a reduction of two-thirds or more by 2030.”
Watts stated this in a report from C40 Cities in 2019 entitled, “The Future Of Urban Consumption In A 1.5°C World.” The report lays out “ambitious targets” for cities to meet regarding the urban consumption of building materials, food, clothing and textiles, private transportation, electronics, and household appliances, as well as private aviation travel.
The report defines “ambitious targets” as the following:
“Target level of ambition for consumption interventions that is more ‘ambitious,’ based on a future vision of resource-efficient production and extensive changes in consumer choices. This level was typically informed by expert judgment rather than existing research.”
Under meat and dairy consumption, the ‘ambitious target’ would be 0 kilograms of either for all citizens.
Of course, the idea that a large city in Texas is going to give up meat is absolutely bonkers. Barbecue is one of the biggest civil religions in Texas, only slightly behind football. You might as well ask Frenchmen to give up wine. And I’d really like to see leftwing apparatchiks attempt to close down every taqueria in Houston, as the beat-downs they’d receive would be epic.
We could ask why liberals continually push policies that they would hate living under themselves, but we all know the answer to that: They’ll never live under the rules they apply to others. You have to give up private vehicles and all air travel in the name of global warming, but they’ll feel no compunction in continuing to jet off to Davos because they’re special. The Gavin Newsoms of the world will always eat at the French Laundry, no matter how much they slam you for daring to leave your house to buy a hamburger.
Rules are for the little people. Nancy Pelosi will never give up here freezer full of high-end ice cream, but she’ll happily castigate you for daring to ignore the dictates of the ruling nomenklatura.
Those pushing eating the bugs will never have to eat the bugs themselves. The point is to make you eat the bugs…
Tags:agriculture, Austin, C40, Democrats, Global Warming, Houston, Social Justice Warriors, Texas
Posted in Austin, Democrats, Global Warming, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 5 Comments »
Thursday, August 17th, 2023
Actually, that headline is slightly inaccurate: It was two criminals out on bond shooting a cop.
A massive manhunt is underway for two suspects in relation to a shooting of a Harris County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop Wednesday night. Both men were free on bond for other charges and had a history of not complying with the conditions of their release.
According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the deputy went on patrol at about 7:40 p.m., but within minutes emergency dispatch received calls about an officer down on Homestead Road just inside Houston’s Beltway 8 and the Eastex Freeway.
Law enforcement agencies have issued a Blue Alert for Terran Green, 34, and James Green, 37. Although Gonzalez announced the suspects’ vehicle had been found overnight, the two men remain at large.
Harris County records indicated that Terran’s criminal history dates to at least 2007 and includes five felony convictions and three separate stints in state prison. In May 2022, he was sentenced to two years for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
Democrats love to talk about “gun crime,” but deep blue Democratic Party prosecutors seem loath to actually prosecute the criminals who commit crimes with guns.
Terran was charged in March 2023 with Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Aggravated Assault of a Family Member, for which the Harris County District Attorney’s Office requested no bond, but Judge DaSean Jones of the 180th District Criminal Court approved bonds of $55,000. Terran was released on April 1, but after failure to appear in court his bonds were forfeited. He has been a wanted fugitive since May 30.
James also has a criminal history, dating back to 2011. He was given personal recognizance (PR) bonds requiring no payment for Carrying a Handgun in a Motor Vehicle in 2020 and 2022 and possession of one to four grams of cocaine on June 7, 2022. He was rearrested on August 7 after bond forfeiture but released on a $5,000 surety bond just last Saturday.
A self-proclaimed socialist, Jones has often drawn media attention for awarding bond release to violent, repeat offenders. In 2021 he reduced bond for a suspect facing felony charges of human trafficking, assault, sexual assault of a child, and compelling prostitution of a child.
Sexual predators of children seem very near and dear to the hearts of the Democratic Party’s cadres of social justice activists.
Harris County began shifting release policies in 2019, when local judges adopted new bail guidelines and a federal judge approved a consent decree in the ODonnell v. Harris County lawsuit over misdemeanor bail. The decree has formally governed misdemeanor bail policy and mandated county spending on pretrial services for defendants, but a ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in a similar lawsuit against Dallas County earlier this year overturned ODonnell, leaving the future of the consent decree uncertain.
Crime Stoppers of Houston’s Andy Kahan has tracked the number of persons murdered in Harris County by suspects out on multiple bonds and PR bonds since 2018, noting there have been at least 197 such victims.
197 people dead thanks to Social Justice.
Last I checked, the Harris County deputy shot was still alive following surgery and their name hadn’t been released.
Expect criminals to keep shooting cops and citizens as long as Democrats maintain the social justice revolving door for repeat offenders.
Update: Deputy’s name is Joseph Anderson and alleged shooter Terran Green is in custody after a police standoff in Humble.
James Green was questioned and released without being charged.
Tags:Crime, DaSean Jones, Democrats, Ed Gonzalez, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Harris County, Holly Hansen, Houston, Joseph Anderson, pedophilia, sex offender, Social Justice Warriors, Terran Green
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, August 1st, 2023
Big Medicare fraud ring busted in Houston. How big? $142 million big.
The Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) has made a series of arrests and seized assets related to a fraud case in Houston.
Lily Tran Daniel, Kenneth Reynolds, and Lillian Thai were all arrested on suspicion of their “involvement in a major healthcare fraud scheme” associated with ApolloMDx, a genetic testing company.
According to a release from the OAG, AplloMDx had involvement in a $142 million healthcare fraud scheme where they would offer illegal kickbacks in order to purchase recipient information form marketers and orders for genetic testing from doctors.
The statement from the OAG details how ApolloMDx would make alterations on the dates of service on testing orders, making it appear that they collected multiple DNA samples on different dates, so they could bill for multiple dates of service to increase their Medicare reimbursement on genetic testing claims.
Since the inception of the national Medicare Fraud Strike Force to crack down on Medicare fraud in 2007, Texas has been at the center of many investigations, including what was at the time the country’s largest-ever Medicare fraud takedown in Dallas.
Medicare and Medicaid are two U.S. government programs that were created in the 1960s to provide low-income citizens with a rudimentary form of health insurance coverage. While Medicare covers persons age 65 and older, Medicaid was established for persons under 65 years and those over that age who had exhausted their Medicare benefits. It is also funded jointly by the federal and state governments.
The Texas MFCU worked in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the ApolloMDx case. The prosecution will be carried out by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas is assisting with forfeiture.
In addition to uncovering the fraud scheme, the MFCU seized sports cars, a sailboat, and three properties for a total of $7.1 million, funded by the illegal proceeds accrued from the ApolloMDx operation.
Texas and the federal government jointly finance and administer Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which comes to a total of over $40 billion.
The more money that flows through public welfare systems, the more susceptible to fraud they are. And it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that all the additional money flooding the system has made it that much easier for people to commit fraud.
Tags:ApolloMDx, Crime, fraud, Houston, Ken Paxton, Kenneth Reynolds, Lillian Thai, Lily Tran Daniel, Medicaid, Medicare, Texas, Welfare State
Posted in Crime, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 30th, 2023
While writing yesterday’s Houston forensic backlog story, it occurred to me that I never heard the outcome of the pending murder trial of Ex-Houston Police Officer Gerald Goines. Goines is accused of falsifying information on the warrant on a no-knock narcotics raid in which he and his fellow officers killed two people.
As far as I can tell, that’s because the trial hasn’t happened yet, despite the original raid happening in January of 2019. The most recent activity was the judge refusing to dismiss the charges, and another court limiting the mere presence of Goines in a case as a possible cause for appeal to a ten year stretch starting in 2008.
The only other news I’ve found was that Steven Bryant, another officer on the raid, pled guilty to federal tampering charges back in 2021.
I know that Flu Manchu lockdowns delayed a lot of trials all around the country, but four and a half years is an inordinately long time for a murder trial to be pending, as you start to run into due process concerns. Four years was around the time that all the charges in the Waco biker shootout case were dismissed. And that was a much more complex case with hundred of defendants and mountains of prosecutorial pigheadedness.
The Democrats running Houston’s criminal justice system today claim to care deeply about stopping police misconduct, but don’t seem capable of dispensing justice in anything like a timely manner to the one glaring redball of police misconduct they already have in their laps.
Tags:Crime, Democrats, Gerald Goines, Houston, Houston Police Department, police, Steven Bryant, Texas
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Texas | 3 Comments »
Saturday, July 29th, 2023
Your various CSI-type shows display modern police forensic labs as clean, gleaming, orderly high-tech cathedrals to science. The reality is seldom as glamorous, with cramped offices and significant backlogs being the norm. Around the country, various forensic labs have gotten so far behind that serious criminal cases have been dismissed due to lack of evidence.
Houston previously had a problem with it’s forensics department, so the Houston Forensic Science Center was created in 2012. And now they’re having big problems too.
Houston Police Officers’ Union President Douglas Griffith called for the resignation of the head of the city’s forensic science center this week over a significant backlog in testing evidence that has led to dismissal of criminal cases for a lack of probable cause.
“It’s either gross mismanagement or incompetence,” Griffith said during a press conference Wednesday.
Sharing photos of suspected marijuana seized by police at Houston’s Hobby Airport, Griffith said that 38 potential drug smuggling cases, involving 40 to 70 pounds of marijuana each, were dismissed on lack of probable cause because the city’s lab had not returned confirmatory tests.
Created by the city in 2012 after a scandal-ridden inhouse facility lost accreditation, the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) is independent from the police department but funded by the city and governed by a board appointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner. Peter Stout, who holds a PhD in toxicology, has served as head since 2015.
Griffith explained to The Texan that according to HFSC’s own website, it takes 306 days to process a sexual assault kit and 215 days to process firearms or ballistics testing.
“But in an email sent by Dr. Stout to me, as well as city council, the district attorney, and defense attorney Murray Newman, he said if we want a rush case done today, it would not be done until 2025,” said Griffith. “So, there’s a discrepancy between what’s on the website and what’s in the email.”
The name Murray Newman may be familiar to some readers as Dwight links to his blog Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center.
In an email sent on July 17 to city, police, and criminal justice officials, Stout wrote, “It will be a really rude awakening to ask for a priority on July 31st for a trial on August 15th and find that your spot in line will be March 2025 behind the 66 other homicide cases already on the list.”
“That’s a year and nine months to test a weapon used in a homicide,” warned Griffith.
Stout’s email also warns recipients that “a priority request is just that, a request not a guarantee,” and that his office may reject or accept requests.
The city has set the HFSC 2024 budget at $28.5 million but added additional funds of nearly $5 million over the past year. Despite the extra funding, HFSC limits the number of DNA testing samples to 10 per case at a time, so investigators or prosecutors must wait for the first 10 samples to be returned before submitting a separate set.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg told The Texan that delays in toxicology testing are leading to dismissal of gun crimes.
Ogg’s name should be familiar to readers as being a Soros-backed DA.
“Drugs are the first things we find and serve as the reason for the search that then locates a gun,” said Ogg. “But we are losing gun cases when judges dismiss a case for lack of probable cause because we don’t have those toxicology reports back.”
Noting that firearms testing results had recently increased from a 14 month wait to 20 months, Ogg also expressed concern about delayed evidence in relation to a new Texas law authored by Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) prioritizing violent cases.
“The emphasis now will be on prosecuting child sexual assaults, which require lab testing, and gun violence and homicide cases. I am just very concerned that as the cases are being called to trial the labs will not have completed their work and the evidence will not have been disclosed,” said Ogg. “Then those cases will stand at risk, possibly allowing a dangerous suspect to be released to the streets.”
Harris County has been plagued by a criminal case backlog since Hurricane Harvey flooded courtrooms in 2017. The situation only worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the court system to a grinding halt.
With additional funding and extra court judges managing an emergency docket, earlier this year Ogg announced the case backlog had been reduced by 21 percent but that there were still about 114,000 backlogged cases.
That the crime lab is still having unacceptable backlog problems a decade after the last crime lab had similar problems is hardly a credit to the Democrats who have controlled Houston’s government since 1982.
Given what I know of how the how the defund the police racket tried to work in Austin, I have to wonder if funding for essential services (like a competent [police crime lab) have been siphoned off to “social justice” causes in Houston as well…
Tags:Crime, Democrats, Douglas Griffith, forensics lab, Holly Hansen, Houston, Houston Forensic Science Center, Houston Police Department, Kim Ogg, Murray Newman, Peter Stout, Social Justice Warriors, Texas
Posted in Crime, Democrats, Social Justice Warriors, Texas | 5 Comments »
Friday, May 5th, 2023
A Soros-backed DA is stepping down, a Harvard prof lying about playing footsie with commies sentenced, and another Democratic fundraiser convicted of fraud. It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Good news, everyone! Soros-backed St. Louis Democrat DA Kim Gardner has resigned.
On Thursday, a progressive prosecutor who was notoriously funded by far-left billionaire George Soros announced her resignation, after months of bipartisan pressure to do so.
Fox News reports that Kim Gardner, the Circuit Attorney for St. Louis, announced that her resignation will be effective June 1st. Gardner was one of the first prosecutors in the country to be bankrolled by Soros, who has since expanded his efforts to other major cities across the country. She was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, largely due to Soros’ financial backing. Prior to her resignation announcement, she had declared her intention to run for a third term in 2024.
After years of criticism for being soft on crime and siding with criminals over victims, Gardner faced a whole new wave of criticism from both parties over an incident in February: Teenage volleyball player Janae Edmonson, who was visiting St. Louis from Tennessee for a tournament, was hit by an out-of-control car while crossing the road; although Edmonson survived, she had to have both of her legs amputated.
The driver of the car was Daniel Riley, a man who was out on bond while awaiting trial for an armed robbery case. It was later revealed that Riley had violated the terms of bond dozens of times, but was never arrested. When the blame turned to Gardner for failing to keep him off the streets, she falsely claimed that her office had attempted to have Riley jailed once again, only to be denied by a judge; there are no records of her office filing any such motion or otherwise seeking the revocation of Riley’s bond.
Following the Edmonson incident, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R-Mo.) filed a petition quo warranto, the process by which the state attorney general can fire a prosecutor who has been determined to be neglectful of her duties. Bailey claimed that as many as 12,000 criminal cases have been dismissed due to Gardner’s failures, with another 9,000 having been thrown out right before they were set to go to trial, due to Garnder’s office refusing to provide evidence and speedy trials for defendants.
After Gardner’s announcement, Bailey released a statement demanding that she vacate her office immediately, rather than wait for another month.
The Biden Banking Crisis continues to bubble along. First Horizon, PacWest, and Western Alliance are the new banks facing trouble. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
“Wagner Chief to Pull Mercenaries Out of Bakhmut over Ammunition Dispute with Russian Military.”
Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he will pull his mercenaries out of the meat grinder that is the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10, one day after Russia’s Victory Day Celebrations, which Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to use to shore up support for the Russian invasion.
The Wagner Group, a well-known mercenary unit known to be one of Russia’s most competent fighting divisions, is leading the charge on Bakhmut, a city that that has gained outsized symbolic importance.
“I am withdrawing the Wagner PMC units from Bakhmut, because in the absence of ammunition they are doomed to senseless death,” Prigozhin said in full military fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon. The video he released showed him surrounded by masked Wagner fighters. Prigozhin also released a statement to the same effect.
His forces had no choice but to withdraw to rear bases to “lick the wounds,” said Prigozhin, as translated by the Washington Post. If Wagner goes through with the withdrawal, it would be viewed as catastrophic in terms of morale. The Russian invasion has ground to a standstill after large-scale Russian and Ukrainian offensives last year. Kyiv, which has been amassing ammunitions including tanks and fighter jets, is expected to launch a fresh counterattack in the very near future.
Prigozhin also launched a remarkable video tirade overnight on Telegram in which he displayed bodies of dozens of Wagner soldiers killed in Bakhmut. He angrily laid into the Russian Defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, for supplying Wagner with only 30 percent of the ammunition that’s needed.
The statement released today claimed that number was even lower, standing at 10 percent.
One caveat is that we’ve heard complaints from Prigozhin about his ammo supply before.
Russian soldiers dig trenches in horse graveyard in occupied Ukraine. Now they have anthrax.
“Biden CIA chief met with Epstein several times after financier convicted of child sex crime. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns had three meetings with Jeffrey Epstein in 2014, when the top spy official was deputy secretary of state and after Epstein was convicted of child sex exploitation.” (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
“Harvard chemistry professor sentenced for lying about ties to CCP…Former Harvard University Chemistry Department Chair Charles M. Lieber was sentenced Wednesday to time served and over $80,000 in fines for committing fraud and for failing to disclose his connections to the Chinese Communist Party.” (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
“Longtime Democratic Campaign Strategist Charged with Election Fraud.” And completely different than the Democratic Party fundraiser convicted of fraud last week.
New Jersey Democratic campaign strategist James Devine was charged with election fraud for allegedly submitting more than 1,900 fake petitions to help secure a 2021 Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot spot for candidate Lisa McCormick, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Tuesday.
Devine was McCormick’s campaign manager and sent the fake voter certifications to the New Jersey Secretary of State’s Division of Elections via email in April 2021, but the New Jersey Democratic State Committee challenged his attempt days later, arguing that all the forms featured same the style of signature and at least one of the named voters was deceased, Platkin said.
A judge subsequently took McCormick off the primary ballot, and Devine is now charged with third-degree offenses concerning nomination certificates or petitions, tampering with public records or information and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.
(Hat tip: Instapundit.)
“Kansas Becomes 1st State to Pass Law Defining Gender as a Person’s Sex at Birth.” One down, forty-nine to go…
Killer in Satan’s service finds the left’s child sexual mutilation fetish disgusting.
Shots of Minneapolis before and after the Antifa/BLM riots of 2020.
“El Paso Engulfed In ‘Mass Migration Dumpster Fire‘ As State Of Emergency Declared.”
Accused serial black widow killer charged with murdering her fifth husband.
“You just killed two people tonight.” “Yeah, but when can I go back to school?”
California banning diesel effective 2036.
Could sexbots and AI end humanity?
“Googlers angry about CEO’s $226M pay after cuts in perks and 12,000 layoffs.” Funny how you never hear the “Occupy Wall Street” crowd going after the Sundar Pichais of the world.
Speaking of Google, I’m hardly an expert on AI, but here’s a piece that claims Google is getting its clocked cleaned by OpenSource AI.
LoRA updates are very cheap to produce (~$100) for the most popular model sizes. This means that almost anyone with an idea can generate one and distribute it. Training times under a day are the norm. At that pace, it doesn’t take long before the cumulative effect of all of these fine-tunings overcomes starting off at a size disadvantage. Indeed, in terms of engineer-hours, the pace of improvement from these models vastly outstrips what we can do with our largest variants, and the best are already largely indistinguishable from ChatGPT. Focusing on maintaining some of the largest models on the planet actually puts us at a disadvantage.
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
The Case of the Disappearing Swiss Cheese Holes.
Wes Anderson’s Star Wars.
A nice stroke of book collecting luck: I picked up an inscribed presentation copy of H. G. Wells’ The Food of the Gods. Or rather, I picked it up as part of a multibook lot back in February and didn’t realize it was inscribed until last week.
“Biden Deploys 1,500 Troops At Border To Help Register New Voters.”
“Pro Disc Golfer Disqualified After Testing Negative For Cannabis.”
Tags:#BlackLivesMatter, anthrax, antifa, artificial intelligence, Bakhmut, banking, Border Controls, California, Charles M. Lieber, China, CIA, Economics, First Horizon, George Soros, Google, H. G. Wells, Houston, James Devine, Jeffrey Epstein, Kansas, Kim Gardner, LinkSwarm, Lisa McCormick, Matthew Platkin, Military, Minneapolis, Missouri, Open Source, PacWest, pedophilia, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, sexbots, Social Justice Warriors, spying, Texas, transexual, Ukraine, Voter Fraud, Wagner Group, Western Alliance, William Burns, Yevgeny Prigozhin
Posted in Border Control, Communism, Crime, Democrats, Elections, Supreme Court, Texas | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, April 4th, 2023
Smoothly-run offices have high retention rates and low attrition rates. So what does it tell you that Texas Democratic State Rep. Jolanda Jones has a 100% attrition rate in her senior staffers last week?
The senior staff for Democrat State Rep. Jolanda Jones of Houston announced their resignation over her ‘toxic and unethical’ behavior Thursday.
A Democrat behaving toxicly and unethically?
Jones, a freshman in the Texas House and former contestant on the reality show Survivor, reportedly “actively covered up [her] son Jio’s inappropriate relationship with one of [her] interns, who is significantly younger than him and is in a power imbalance, and [is] now using [her] position to intimidate and silence [her] own staff members.”
Nepotism? Check. Sexual harassment? Check. Also, Jiovanni Jones is evidently out on bail on felony drug charges. Criminal charges? Check.
According to Jones’ senior staff, she “continued to endorse, encourage, and create an abusive and hostile work environment in the workplace without accountability for [her] or [her] relatives’ actions.”
Jones’ chief of staff, legislative director, and district director told her to “own your S.H.I.T.,” in reference to Jones’ book titled “Owning My S.H.I.T.: Suffering Hardship Internalizing Trauma.”
Social justice warrior on social justice warrior fratricide? Check.
The staff’s resignation letter, which can be read in full below, focused mainly on an alleged inappropriate relationship between Jones’ son, Jiovanni Jones, and an intern in the office:
“Jio is not only your son, but General Counsel at Elite Change Inc. (registered lobbying firm and also the financial vehicle of your campaign manager, Dallas Jones).
More nepotism plus a mechanism to rake off campaign donations into your family’s pockets? Check.
If the name Dallas Jones seems familiar, it’s because he was accused of helping Democrats carry out election fraud back in 2020.
This inappropriate relationship may constitute as sexual harassment or a conflict of interest between his office of employment and your state office.
“It is concerning that you have not taken any steps to address his behavior, and instead have chosen to put everyone in the office at risk,” said the senior staff. “Your son is an absolute liability, and his behavior is now affecting the livelihoods and credibility of everyone on your payroll. It is so disappointing to see that while you build your profile on overcoming abuse, you cannot stand up to the abuser that you raised. You are holding a legal case hostage over your son’s girlfriend because you allow him to gaslight and emotionally and physically abuse all the women in his life – work and personal – while dragging your entire office through it.”
Funny how when you start digging into charges of cronyism against a Democratic office holder, a whole host of other unsavory activity comes tumbling out into the open…
Tags:Dallas Jones, Democrats, Elite Change Inc., Houston, Jiovanni Jones, Jolanda Jones, nepotism, Social Justice Warriors, Texas
Posted in Democrats, Republicans, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Uncategorized | 9 Comments »
Friday, March 31st, 2023
One quarter of the year gone! Career criminals coddled by Soros Stooges, crazy woman who thinks she’s a man murders children, lots of Flu Manchu fraud, and Botox makes you crazy(er). It’s the Friday LinkSwarm!
Everyone and their dog is covering the ham sandwich Trump indictment, so I’ll leave that to others. I will note that Alan Dershowitz is not impressed. “Based on what we know about this case, it may be one of the weakest cases in my six years of experience.”
“Voter Suppression Is Real And It’s Not What You Were Told.
On the morning of Election Day last November, William French went to his local polling place in Freeland, Pennsylvania, to cast his vote. But the qualified and registered voter wasn’t allowed to. The disabled U.S. Army veteran was told that the precinct had run out of paper for ballots and he had to come back later in the afternoon.
So that’s what he did, returning at 3:30 p.m. But the precinct still didn’t have ballots. Election workers told him to return yet again. But by nightfall, it was too difficult. French has endured 17 surgeries on his destroyed leg and uses a cane to walk. But the sidewalks are a mess, and he was worried about the risk of falling and further injury.
That same morning, Melynda Reese and her husband went to their polling location in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania. But only Reese’s husband was allowed to vote, and for the same reason: The precinct had run out of paper. They came back at 4:00 p.m. and were told there would be a lengthy wait.
Reese is a corrections officer and her husband’s primary caregiver. He had recently suffered two cardiac arrests and a stroke. He required regular medication and attention and couldn’t be left alone. Long waits were also too much to bear. The couple returned at 6:30 p.m., and saw a line that stretched so long that they knew they couldn’t wait. Around 9:15 p.m., an election official called Reese and told her that ballots were finally available and she could vote. But her husband had just taken his sleeping pills and she couldn’t leave him unattended.
French and Reese are just two of the thousands of voters affected by poor election administration in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The two just sued Luzerne County, its Board of Elections and Registration, and its Bureau of Elections in federal court for violations of their constitutional right to vote.
“Voters in Luzerne County through no fault of their own, were disenfranchised and denied the fundamental right to vote. William French and Melynda Reese are two of those voters. They bring suit to vindicate the denial of their sacred right to vote, to make sure voters are not disenfranchised in the future, and to bring integrity back to elections in Luzerne County,” said Wally Zimolong, lawyer for French and Reese.
(Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.)
Did the FBI have a “mole” that would tip Hunter Biden off about any China probes.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating the explosive claims by Dr. Gal Luft, a former Israel Defense Forces lieutenant colonel with deep intelligence ties in Washington and Beijing, who says he was arrested to stop him from revealing what he knows about the Biden family and FBI corruption — details he told the Department of Justice in 2019, which he says it ignored.
Luft, 56, first made the claims on Feb. 18 on Twitter, after being detained at a Cyprus airport as he prepared to board a plane to Israel.
“I’ve been arrested in Cyprus on a politically motivated extradition request by the U.S. The U.S., claiming I’m an arms dealer. It would be funny if it weren’t tragic. I’ve never been an arms dealer.
“DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe, Jim, and Hunter Biden.
“Shall I name names?”
Luft remains in jail awaiting extradition to the US over what he says are trumped-up charges of arms trafficking to China and Libya, and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Luft claimed that he tried to reach out to the DOJ about the Chinese energy company CEFC paying Hunter $100,000 and James Biden, Joe’s brother, $65,000 “in exchange for their FBI connections and use of the Biden name to promote China’s Belt and Road Initiative around the world.”
Maybe. Could just be a grifter trying to skate.
“James O’Keefe Uncovers Possible Lucrative Money-Laundering Scheme for Dems.”
James O’Keefe has not allowed his forced exit from Project Veritas to stop him. His new journalism outfit, O’Keefe Media Group (OMG), just released a video uncovering evidence of what O’Keefe calls a possible “money-laundering scheme” for the Democrats. Some individuals reportedly appear to have donated thousands of times over a relatively short period to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars to ActBlue and Biden for President, based on Federal Election Commission records.
“FEC data shows that some senior citizens across the U.S. have been donating thousands of times per year,” O’Keefe began. “Some of these individuals’ names and addresses are attached to over $200,000 in contributions. We went and knocked on a few of their doors to corroborate the data that we received from a group of citizen journalists called Election Watch in Maryland.” The video then showed O’Keefe visiting someone who is listed as donating over $217,000, through 12,000 separate contributions. This money was earmarked for various entities through leftist platform ActBlue over three years’ time. Some of the donations were made with variations of the person’s name and address, O’Keefe stated.
The data he obtained was state and FEC data, O’Keefe said. “We’re wondering if these donors are victims of what appears to be a money-laundering scheme, or [if] these residents actually participated in the scheme. We’re making phone calls, we’re knocking on doors, these are things that you can do, we hope you do that.” There are “bizarre amounts of data” on homes and individuals making many thousands of dollars of donations, O’Keefe said, urging others to help him investigate.
The first person shown opening the door to O’Keefe, a Marylander listed as donating $32,000 in 3,000 different contributions, said he was unaware of the donations but advised O’Keefe as a solution to hit Donald Trump “with a bat.” The man added, “I want to see a scar on his f**king head. Now stop f**king with me,” and slammed the door.
Another donor, Cindy, according to O’Keefe, supposedly donated over $18,000 in 1,000+ donations to ActBlue in 2022, which would necessitate donating “three times a day, every day, for the whole year.” When asked if she’d donated over $18,000, Cindy responded with a quick laugh, “I doubt that. No, I don’t think so… I wish I could have donated $18,000 to Biden’s presidency.”
Meanwhile Carolyn Lenz, in Tucson, Ariz., told OMG that she “absolutely [did] not” donate over 18,000 times for $170,000+ to ActBlue. She looked at the data showing “she” donated multiple times a day, often in $5 to $15 increments, and insisted that the donations were not hers. “They must be” fraudulent, Lenz said.
(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
“Judge stops California Soros prosecutor from slashing triple murderer’s sentence.”
After rejecting her in 2018, the voters of Alameda County, California selected Pamela Price as their new District Attorney last year. Price had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from George Soros for her two campaigns. That probably tells you most of what you need to know, since Soros only funds candidates who are soft on crime and willing to empty the jails as much as possible. Price quickly proved herself no exception, seeking to cut a plea deal with a killer who had been arrested for one triple murder for hire, was accused in the murder of a court witness, and several other violent crimes. Rather than the 75 years to life sentence that Delonzo Logwood was eligible for, Price wanted to cut him loose after fifteen years. Thankfully, a County District Judge stepped in and rejected the deal out of hand. (Free Beacon)
A California judge this week blocked a newly-elected progressive prosecutor’s effort to slash a triple murderer’s sentence.
Alameda County district judge Mark McCannon rejected District Attorney Pamela Price’s plea deal for a 31-year-old man jailed for a 2008 triple murder-for-hire, among other crimes. Price, who took office in November and has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the progressive billionaire George Soros, attempted to sentence Delonzo Logwood to just 15 years in prison, though he was eligible for a sentence of 75 years to life.
“10 Arrests, 33 Charges, 31 Days — One Man!”
You can’t keep a bad man down. Keith Chastain, 38, is a one-thug crime spree.
Chastain racked up an impressive array of arrests in Fresno County, California, (of course). Between Feb. 19 and March 21, he was arrested 10 times for a menagerie of crimes encompassing 15 misdemeanors and 18 felonies, including:
- six stolen cars
- fraud
- DUI (duh)
- drugs (duh)
- vandalism
Chastain was hit with three additional charges — DUI, trespassing, and auto theft — but those were dropped when cops failed to file the charges in time.
Snip.
“Unfortunately, this is not as unique of a situation as it seems,” Tony Botti, spokesman for the Fresno County Sherriff’s office, stated. “California has watered down the laws so much over the years for property criminals and repeat offenders that they are not held accountable like they should be. Sadly, it is our community members who suffer due to these soft-on-crime policies.”
(Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
“Aggravated robbery defendant violates bond conditions more than 1,000 times, gets rewarded by two judges.”
According to court documents, Edwin Maldonado spent many months thumbing his nose at what he was ordered by the court to do.
His punishment for that is more like a prize.
“You’ve got someone who was rewarded for being a failure, and this guy was a failure over 1,000 and some odd times,” said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers.
First, Maldonado gets a felony charge for drug possession. A few weeks later, he’s charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. He makes his $30,000 bond and walks out of jail.
“I’ve certainly had clients hauled back into court on violations, maybe two or three times that have been alleged,” said criminal defense attorney Emily Detoto.
Associate Judge Tiffany Hill presided over a bond revocation hearing for Maldonado.
“For obvious reasons, you are not abiding by your rules and conditions period, and God knows what he was doing when he wasn’t where he was supposed to be,” Kahan said.
According to court documents, Maldonado failed to comply with any of his bond conditions for eight months.
According to his GPS monitor, he left his curfew zone 847 times, was called 453 times about his whereabouts, and had more than 1,000 GPS monitor violations.
“Suspect Charged in Robbery that Paralyzed Victim Was Out on $100 Bond for Weapons Charge.”
A suspect arrested and charged in a recent brutal “jugging” robbery in Houston that left a woman paralyzed was out on a $100 bond for a weapons-related charge.
On the morning of February 13, Nung Truong, 44, withdrew money from a bank ATM but was followed for approximately 24 miles by two suspects. Surveillance video released by the Houston Police Department shows a black male bumping into Truong and causing her to drop her belongings. The suspect initially fled with an envelope but returned seconds later to body-slam Truong to the ground before taking $4,300 in cash.
A mother to three children aged 13, 15, and 20, Truong is now paralyzed and unable to walk or care for herself.
Last Friday, Houston Police arrested Joseph Harrell, 17, and Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods, 19, for the attack and charged both suspects with Aggravated Robbery with Serious Bodily Injury.
According to court records, on January 26, 2023, Harrell had been granted a General Order bond of $100 for Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. He also faces charges of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon related to an incident in February in which he threatened another victim with a gun. Harrell is currently being held in the Harris County jail on bonds totaling $240,000.
Snip.
Although Harrell’s Unlawful Possession of a Weapon charge was assigned to Harris County Court 2 under Judge Paula Goodhart, his bond was signed by Judge David Singer.
Elected to Harris County Criminal Court 14 in 2018, Singer lost in the March 2022 Democratic primary election and his term ended December 31, 2022. As a one-term judge, Singer is not eligible under state code to serve as a visiting judge.
The 11th Administrative Judicial Region confirmed to The Texan that Singer is not listed as a visiting judge.
The Harris County Office of Court Management emailed the following statements to The Texan:
“David Singer was appointed as associate judge pursuant to Section 54A.002 of the Texas Government Code and the Local Rules for Harris County Criminal Courts at Law. His start date was Jan. 1, 2023.”
Finland gets the green light to join NATO, with Turkey and Hungary approving their membership. Sweden’s application is still under negotiation. As I noted previously, tangling with the Finns has not been a source of happiness for Russia.
Poor priorities. “European Ammo Maker’s Growth Stymied By TikTok Data Center Sucking Up Electricity.”
“Several homeless encampments have popped up behind shops at South Town Square in South Austin, driving business and customers away.”
“Florida Governor DeSantis Signs Universal School Choice Bill.”
LA City Council member Mark Ridley-Thomas convicted of taking bribes. “He was convicted of one count of bribery, one of conspiracy, one count of honest services mail fraud, and four counts of honest services wire fraud. The jury acquitted him on 12 other counts.”
“Protesting WA’s capital gains tax, Fisher Investments says HQ moving to Texas.” This is in response to a Washington state supreme court ruling allowing a state capital gains tax.
Crazy woman who thinks she’s a man murdered children in a Christian school this week.
“As Veterans Learned the DCCC Had Leaked Their Data, the VA’s Tech Chief Was Meeting With His Wife. She Runs the DCCC.”
Veterans Affairs assistant secretary Kurt DelBene is married to Rep. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), chairwoman of the DCCC. It’s a big club, and you’re not in it. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Covid crook convicted.
Federal prosecutors announced a 58-year-old Plainview man is facing 102 years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing $4 million in federal relief funds passed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, Andrew Johnson pleaded guilty in the Northern District of Texas to three counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, according to a news release published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Johnson swindled millions from the Paycheck Protection Program passed in the early weeks of the pandemic to help stave off the economic effects of business closures, government restrictions, and shelter-in-place mandates. As part of the fraud, Johnson applied for and received forgiveness for 27 bogus loans.
He spent more than $3.5 million of the stolen funds on “home renovations, vacations, clothing, cosmetic surgery, college tuition, cars, wedding expenses, and equipment for an unrelated business venture,” according to the DOJ.
Speaking of fraud: “Nonprofit vendor defrauded Austin Public Health of $417K.”
After an investigation that took longer than a year, the Office of the City Auditor in Austin said it found Central Texas Allied Health Institute (CTAHI), a nonprofit City of Austin contractor, committed fraud against Austin Public Health and falsified health records.
According to the investigative report, CTAHI misrepresented over $1.1 million in financial transactions across three contracts with Austin Public Health and was incorrectly paid roughly $417,000 between December 2020 and September 2021 because of fraudulent contract claims. The report also claimed CTAHI falsified its COVID-19 vaccine contract performance by overstating vaccination totals and fabricating patient data.
“This is up there with some of the biggest cases we’ve investigated on my team,” said Brian Molloy, chief of investigations at the Chief of the City Auditor.
CTAHI, President Todd Hamilton, and Dr. Jereka Thomas-Hockaday — both of whom were named in the report — denied the claims made in the report in a statement Thursday.
Snip.
CTAHI’s three contracts with Austin Public Health were for COVID-19 testing, workforce development, and COVID-19 vaccines, according to the city. Between December 2020 and September 2021, the city said CTAHI submitted 23 claims for reimbursement to APH under the workforce development and COVID-19 vaccine contracts.
Flu Manchu is the fraud fount that just keeps giving… (Hat tip: Dwight.)
NHL might stop pushing gay pride after backlash from players and fans. “Philadelphia Flyer’s player Ivan Provorov didn’t want to participate in a ‘Pride’ event during warmups…Soon, other players also refused to participate after Povorov showed it could be done, and some entire team organizations dropped their planned LGBT pride events. And thanks to this one man’s stand, the NHL is considering dropping the whole ‘Pride’ push.”
Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel and coiner of Moore’s Law, is dead at age 94. Semiconductors have radically changed just about every facet of the world.
Italy refuses to eat the bugs.
“Botox alters brain activity connected to emotions.” (Hat tip: Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit.)
Samsung phones fake moon photos.
“An aperiodic monotile exists!”
“This woman was visiting Asia and noticed that all the plus-sized clothing stores have very direct names.”
“Progressives Across Nation Locked Out Of Accounts After CAPTCHA Asks ‘Select All Squares That Contain A Woman.'”
“Media Calls For Moment Of Silence For Shooter Who Was Misgendered.”
Tags:Alan Dershowitz, Andrew Johnson (crook), artillery, Austin, Babylon Bee, Botox, California, campaign finance fraud, Central Texas Allied Health Institute (CTAHI), China, Crime, Delonzo Logwood, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Donald Trump, eat the bugs, Edwin Maldonado, FBI, Finland, Fisher Investments, Florida, fraud, Gal Luft, George Soros, Gordon Moore, Houston, Hungary, Hunter Biden, Italy, James O'Keefe, Jereka Thomas-Hockaday, Joseph Harrell, Keith Chastain, Kurt DelBene, LinkSwarm, Mark McCannon, Mark Ridley-Thomas, NATO, NHL, Norway, Obituary, Pamela Price, Ron DeSantis, Russia, Russo-Ukrainian War, Semiconductors, Suzan DelBene, Taxes, Texas, Tiffany Hill, Tik-Tok, Todd Hamilton, Turkey, Ukraine, Veterans Administration, Washington, Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods
Posted in Austin, Crime, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Media Watch, Military, Regulation, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 3rd, 2023
In addition to getting over a cold, I spent most of the non-work day trying to assemble a pressure washer so I could attach a water-jetting attachment so I can clean out a blocked exterior line so I can run my dishwasher without it overflowing my sink.
The result of all this labor is that I still need to call a plumber. So enjoy yet another abbreviated LinkSwarm.
Hmmmmmm! “Hunter Biden Business Partner Flips, Now ‘Cooperating’ With GOP Investigators.”
Eric Schwerin, a close business associate of Hunter Biden who also dealt with Joe Biden’s business and tax affairs, is now working with House GOP investigators looking into Biden family dealings – particularly in Ukraine and China, where the family collected millions of dollars, Just the News reports.
Eric Schwerin, a close business associate of Hunter Biden who also dealt with Joe Biden’s business and tax affairs, is now working with House GOP investigators looking into Biden family dealings – particularly in Ukraine and China, where the family collected millions of dollars, Just the News reports.
“He is cooperating with us,” House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told the outlet.
“His attorneys and my counsel are communicating on a regular basis. Now, I feel confident that he’s going to work with us, and provide us with the information that we have requested,” Comer continued. “I think that Schwerwin is going to be a very valuable witness for us in this investigation.”
Of note, Schwerin, the former president of Hunter Biden’s now-dissolved investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners, visited the White House at least 19 times from 2009 to 2015, according to White House visitor log records reviewed by The Epoch Times and first reported by the New York Post.
Chicago’s massively incompetent Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot defeated for reelection.
“Lori Lightfoot Blames Election Loss On ‘Tricksy Hobbitses.’
The Democratic Party’s war on natural gas continues apace. (Hat tip: Director Blue.)
Patrick L. Wojahn, the Democratic mayor of College Park, MD, resigns over child porn charges. Name that party: His political affiliation only shows up in the 19th paragraph of the piece. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
“Russia’s Latest Advance on Vuhledar Fails After 12 Seconds.”
Fruit and vegetable shortage hits the UK.
Illnesses to Democratic senators Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman mean that Democrats have temporarily lost their senate majority. That will teach you to rely to Octagenerians and visibly impaired stroke victims to carry your water. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
Pakistan swears it won’t default on it’s debt.
SUV struck by lasers. And by lasers, I mean a minigun. Watch the video.
Cuba facing shortages of just about everything. Communism will do that for you. (Hat Tip: The Other McCain.)
Fully automated, 100 ton, container-moving robots.
Baltimore police chase ends in building collapse.
“Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta submits $5.5 billion bid for NFL’s Commanders.” He should move them to Austin and change the name back to the Redskins, just to spite them.
Breakfast Bitch convicted of interstate wire fraud.
Did MacKay get Tulipmania wrong? It turns out he was also an enthusiast for the far more destructive “Railway Bubbles” that struck England in the 19th century.
Man, the pollen in Texas is just brutal this time of year. (Hat tip: Ace of Spades HQ.
God Confirms Heaven Will Have A Buc-ee’s.
Tags:Babylon Bee, Baltimore, College Park, Communism, corrupt scumbags, corruption, Crime, Cuba, Democrats, Dianne Feinstein, Eric Schwerin, Guns, Houston, Houston Rockets, Hunter Biden, James Comer, John Fetterman, Maryland, Military, Minigun, Patrick L. Wojahn, pedophilia, Rosemont Seneca Partners, Russo-Ukrainian War, Social Justice Warriors, Tilman Fertitta, Ukraine, Vuhledar, Washington Redskins
Posted in Communism, Crime, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Guns, Military, Social Justice Warriors, Texas, video, Waste and Fraud | 4 Comments »
Thursday, January 19th, 2023
As George Soros-backed leftwing Democrats started capturing District Attorney offices across the country, a dangerous soft-on-crime ethos has taken hold in many blue-controlled cities. Prosecutors are letting violent felons back on the streets for minimal bond, no bond, or even failing to charge them entirely. Just this week comes news that Harris County Democratic Judge Josh Hill let a convicted felon accused of kidnapping, beating, and choking a woman out on $2 bail.
The Texas Republican majority in the statehouse has had enough.
In his victory speech on the first day of the Legislative session, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) said that “rogue district attorneys” who refuse to prosecute certain criminal offenses must be “rein[ed] in.” Legislation filed this week provides an initial glimpse at Texas Republicans’ plan to do that.
“Carte blanche public pronouncements by district attorneys that laws we have on the books will be ignored renders the authority of the Legislature to determine what is and isn’t a crime, moot,” state Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield) said in a statement provided to The Texan. “It is my intention to rein in renegade district attorneys and ensure the rule of law is respected in Texas.”
Cook’s House Bill (HB) 1350 — with an identical version filed in the Senate by Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound) — would forbid district or county attorneys with criminal jurisdiction to “adopt or enforce a policy under which the prosecuting attorney prohibits or materially limits the enforcement of any criminal offense … [or] as demonstrated by pattern or practice, prohibit or materially limit the enforcement of any criminal offense.”
Enforcement of the law would be granted to the Office of the Attorney General, and violators may face civil penalties up to $1,500 for an initial offense and then up to $25,500 for ensuing ones. Offending prosecutors may also be removed from office and their replacement would be appointed by the governor.
Prosecutors and judges have a certain amount of discretion on when and what crimes to charge suspects with. But by ignoring the law entirely for far-left ideological reasons, Soros-backed DAs and judges are violating the equal protection rights of Texas citizens who are victimized by soaring crime. Securing the life, liberty and property of its citizens is the most basic and essential function of government.
If they can’t do their job, they need to be removed from office.
Tags:Crime, Dade Phelan, David Cook, Democrats, Harris County, Houston, Josh Hill, Tan Parker, Texas
Posted in Economics, Texas | 20 Comments »