Criminals

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Almost Half of NYC Bus Riders Don't Pay: An Explanation

Dennis Prager has thoughts:

On April 13, 2019, the Times ran this headline: "1 in 5 Bus Riders in New York City Evades the Fare, Far Worse Than Elsewhere."

In just five years, the percentage of New Yorkers who avoid paying their bus fare -- in other words, steal -- increased from 20% to 50%, a two-and-a-half times increase.

And why might that be? The answer is the same answer that explains virtually every awful development in American cities: moronic progressive ideas and the Democratic Party, the party that governs all our big cities.

As reported in the 2019 article, "Fare evasion was widespread and the reasons varied. Riders did not have exact change. They knew they would not get in trouble ..."

Let's deal with these reasons.

"Riders did not have exact change."

Are we to believe that two and a half times more New Yorkers lacked exact change in 2024 than in 2019? The "no exact change" excuse is typical of people who break laws -- they don't blame themselves; in fact, they regard themselves as perfectly innocent. This is precisely what almost all people who engage in criminal behavior -- from fare evasion to murder -- do: justify their behavior to themselves.

"They knew they would not get in trouble."

That's the real reason. And as we shall see, progressives ensure that fare evaders will not get in trouble.

If people believe they will get away with it, many, maybe even most, people will do bad things.

There are three reasons people desist from doing bad things:

Reason 1: They will be punished.

Progressives have done away with this crime prevention tool. In California, for example, progressives decided to make theft of up to $950 a misdemeanor. As a result, there is more theft of retail stores than at any time in modern California history.

The threat of punishment is why there is less fare evasion in London or Paris than in New York. As the 2019 Times article reported, "In London, where riders face fines as high as $1,300, the fare evasion rate on buses is only 1.5 percent." And in Paris, "the fare evasion rate for buses is 11 percent. ... The Paris transit system has 1,200 staff members dedicated to the problem and hands out about one million fines each year."

In December 2018, The Washington Post reported:

"The D.C. Council gave final approval this week to a measure decriminalizing Metro fare evasion. ... Council members and activists (said) decriminalization was an important step toward addressing disproportionate policing of African Americans who use the transit system. ...

“Proponents of the bill, the Metro Fare Evasion Decriminalization Amendment Act of 2018, pointed to a recent report from the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs that found between January 2016 and February 2018, 91 percent of Metro Transit Police citations and summons for fare evasion were issued to African Americans."

“91 percent of Metro Transit Police citations and summons for fare evasion were issued to African Americans." That’s an impressive statistic, but to be fair to our African American friends, at some point, the “chump factor” kicks in, and even reasonably honest individuals realize that, when a payment system — for transportation, retail shopping, groceries — has become voluntary, only chumps will pay, and who wants to be a chump?* Very uncool. Would I pay the “suggested toll” on highways if there were no cameras overhead capturing my license plate? Or income tax, if the enforcement branch of the IRS was disbanded? Hmmm.

Prager goes on to cite two other reasons for bad actors’ defiance of the law: a lack of conscience, and the demise of religion, but our society is long past being able to instill those virtues in our citizens; better we focus on punishment as a deterrent and gave up hope for the other two. We won’t do anything at all, of course, so Prager’s concluding warning is apt:

In a nutshell, the Times headline encapsulates one other aspect of modern life: The civil war in America and in the West is not just between the Left and the Right. It is between the Left and civilization.

There are still cities in some countries such as Norway and Switzerland where transit riders are trusted to pay for the benefit with limited (inspectors occasionally board and ask for proof of payment) — those cities are not ours, nor are their citizens like us; thanks to Europe’s open border policies, however, they soon will be.

*Besides, they’ve probably been tipped off by Eddie Murphy about the unfairness of it all:

Proving that you don't need an Ivy League law degree to be a drooling idiot; or a liar (UPDATED)

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I can handle things... I'm smart! Not like everybody says! Like, dumb! I'm smart... and I want respect!

Shot:

Dem Senator Says There Is ‘Moral Obligation’ To Quell Fears About ‘Migrant Crime Wave’

“You don’t have to feed into the irrational fear that Trump is trying to make people feel. And it is important to push back on this idea of a migrant crime wave,” Murphy told MSNBC host Chris Jansing. “We don’t have to accept that as the dominant narrative. Why? Because the data actually tells us that immigrants to this country commit crimes at a rate lower than natural-born Americans. Now, that is an inconvenient narrative for Fox News and for the Trump campaign, but it is true.”

Chaser:

Brutal Venezuelan Gangs Spill Over From Sanctuary Cities Into Unprepared Suburbs

Denver’s decision to welcome migrants with open arms is bringing bloodshed to the suburbs next door. A notorious Venezuelan prison gang has set up shop in Aurora, Colorado — even though the town wanted no part of the influx of asylum seekers in the first place.

Aurora — a quiet bedroom community with a population of 390,000 directly east of the Mile-High City — has become a base of operations for the brutal Tren de Aragua gang, which has seized multiple apartment complexes and set off a wave of violent crime.

Denver leads the nation in new migrant arrivals per-capita, with more than 40,000 arriving from the southern border since December 2022.

Jazz Shaw, HotAir:

Back in February, the Aurora City Council passed a resolution by a 7-3 margin declaring that they would not be providing shelter and services to illegal migrants. Unfortunately for them, the members of the Venezuelan prison gangs apparently didn't take out a subscription to the local newspapers. Tren de Aragua members migrated there in increasing numbers all summer and they immediately began "taking everything they could get their hands on" according to one local police chief. 

One gang leader who set up shop in Aurora became known as "the Cookie Monster." That may sound adorable, but don't be fooled. His actual name is Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, but the gang refers to him as “Galleta, which is Spanish for "cookie." He and his gang members quickly took over a local apartment complex. When one resident objected and refused to surrender his apartment, the gang brutally beat him until he required hospitalization. In another incident, two people were wounded when a shooting broke out in the complex.

…. It's interesting to note that when the supposed "Cookie Monster" (who was a known "shot-caller" in the gang in Venezuela) crossed the border illegally in 2022, he was vetted by border authorities who reportedly "didn’t see anything concerning about his past" and released him into the country. Did they even bother to check his tattoos?

He apparently has quite a head for business, however. When "Cookie" and his thugs took over the Fitzsimons Place apartment complex, they beat up or chased off all of the paying tenants. They then began moving newly arrived gang members into the units and set up a retail theft ring robbing the local Walmart repeatedly. The new "tenants" were charged rent to stay there and operate with the gang. One investor who had a financial interest in the Fitzsimons Place complex told reporters that they had completely lost control of several apartment complexes in Aurora. Something more drastic clearly needs to be done. I feel a lot more sympathy for the people of Aurora than I do for the voters of Denver. Aurora never signed up to be a sanctuary city, but they're dealing with the brunt of the damage caused by this invasion nonetheless.

UPDATE: Not that anyone who’s familiar with this moron’s career needs further evidence of his duplicity, but Twitchy has assembled X posts detailing some of his more recent egregious lies.

Dem Sen. Chris Murphy Says He Can't Make Up Stories That Aren't True, Then Makes Up Untrue Stories

Yes, they hate America, and they're happy to prove it

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Ed Driscoll piles on:

Flashback: Kamala Harris Dismisses Kavanaugh’s Pocket Constitution: ‘That Book You Carry.’

Piers Morgan could not be reached for comment: Piers Morgan gets owned by Ben Shapiro, refers to Constitution as “your little book.”

What’s particularly galling is that the Constitution was drafted by one of the most amazing collection of men in history — whether by God or simple happenstance — and this ragtag group of mental pygmies has the arrogance to insist that they are qualified to “reimagine” and rewrite it in their own image.

We’re almost at the level of the lowest banana republic, with their lack of rule of law and ephemeral constitutions that change with each new ruling party; these people will ensure we join them.

And they're just warming up

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not to worry, vetted, neutral democrat observes can handle the workload by themselves, without help from those fascist republicans

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Wayne County Michigan: Only 50 Republicans Hired as Poll Watchers. “In a recent development in Wayne County, Michigan, more than 700 Republicans applied to be poll watchers for the upcoming elections. However, out of the 2,350 poll watchers hired, only 50 of them were Republicans. This stark contrast has raised concerns among the Republican community about fair representation and transparency in the polling process.”

Historically, Philadelphia Democrats have taken a different, more direct approach to ensuring victory, as demonstrated in 2008:

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee are MIA (UPDATED)

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the White House says that Biden is "closely monitoring" the situation.

Biden flies from one vacation to another after vowing to end Gaza war, with Middle East on the brink

  • Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, July 21. Since then, he has gone on two vacations and has spent every weekend either at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, or the presidential retreat at Camp David, according to White House pool reports dating back to July 21.

Following Biden's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last Monday, he and his family spent the week vacationing at the California estate of billionaire Democratic donor Joe Kiani.

He will be vacationing again this week, but this time at his own home in Delaware. He has no public events scheduled for the week. In a preview of the week given to members of the press, White House staff wrote, "The President and the First Lady will remain in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware."

The weeks of vacationing and long weekends come after Biden himself declared that ending the war in Gaza and securing the return of hostages held by Hamas would be the top priority for his final months in office. He made the declaration on July 22, just one day after dropping out of the race.

Neither Biden nor his stand-in, “Last Person in the Room” Kampallawalla were present at today’s memorial service for the 13 soldiers they got killed, but that’s understandable: the last time the old man bothered to do something like that was a disaster of his own making, just like the precipitous withdrawal itself.

“After this clip went viral, two family members of these fallen soldiers appeared on the Fox News program "Hannity" and alleged that Biden checked his watch after every casket was transferred. Darin Hoover, the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, and Mark Schmitz, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, told Hannity (via the NY Post)”

“They would release the salute and he looked down at his watch on every last one,” Hoover said. “All 13, he looked down at his watch.”

Mark Schmitz — whose 20-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, died in the attack — corroborated Hoover’s story.

“I actually leaned into my son’s mother’s ear and I said, ‘I swear to God, if he checks his watch one more time …’,” Schmitz recalled, “and that was only probably four times in. I couldn’t look at him anymore after that, just considering, especially, the time and why we were there. I found it to be the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Snopes:

UPDATE:

Wondering why we have astronauts lost in space? Wonder no more.

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Related: WHAT A MONSTER. Pitt cardiologist Norman Wang was demoted, had an article retracted, and was told he was “unsafe” for students because of maniac statements like “Ultimately, all who aspire to a profession in medicine and cardiology must be assessed as individuals on the basis of their personal merits, not their race and ethnic identities.” He’s suing. (In the meantime, if you need a cardiologist, I suspect he’s a safe bet.)

Posted at 2:35 pm by Robert Shibley

The Know-Nothings

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Over on InstaPundit, Ed Driscoll has posted a lengthy excerpt of an article by John Kass, and it’s worth reading in its entirety, but here’s the short(er) version:

JOHN KASS: Kamala’s Soviet Nightmare.

In the almost 40 years when I was a reporter, columnist, and editorial board member at a faded (but once great) Chicago metropolitan newspaper, I’d periodically conduct an unpopular experiment on colleagues:

I’d ask them if they’d ever made a payroll while dealing with other bills for electricity, taxes and other operating costs.

In other words: Had they ever run a business?

It seemed reasonable to ask, since journalists were so eager and willing to weigh in on economic matters, from unaffordable teacher contracts to property tax “swaps” and  waxing on profoundly about the importance of “community investment.”  Sometimes I’d ask for a show of hands when I’d run the experiment.

“Have you ever run a business?”

But nobody ever raised their hands.

Nobody.

… [A]merican journalists really didn’t want to be burdened by business issues, by “expenses” and “cost of production” and “profits and loss.”  And they often avoid the most nagging issue of all:

Reality.

And there was a secret to success in American journalism.

Feelings. It was all about expressing feelings. And emotion.

* * * * * * * *

Kamala Harris, now the Democrat presidential candidate desperate to distance herself from the disaster of Joe Biden, has feelings.

…. To separate herself from old Joe, she recently announced a drastic plan: If elected she would use her powers to order the federal authority to control rising inflationary costs.

In other words, government price controls just like the Stalin era, before farmers gave up and famine swept Ukraine. Stalin argued that to make an omelet you had to break some eggs. And his de facto but unofficial publicity agent, the Pulitzer Prize winning Walter Duranty of the New York Times agreed. Some eggs had to be broken, and if millions died of starvation…well, you can’t cry over broken eggs, can you?

“On Day One,” she promised, perhaps forgetting she had been at the top of the Biden administration for more than a thousand days, “I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits.

“We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases,” she continued. “And we will take on Big Pharma to cap prescription drug costs for all Americans. Our plan will lower costs and save many middle-class families thousands of dollars a year.”

She’s talking about price controls.

Yes.

Price controls didn’t work for the Soviet Union and Stalin, and the Soviets, like today’s Democrats, had the media eating out of their hands. And then came the famine.

Most of America’s inflation since 2020 has resulted from Kamala Harris, as Vice President, twice breaking Senate ties to approve the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. These didn’t reduce inflation; they caused it, they were the match to the dumpster fire. Dumping trillions of dollars in cash on the the economy and the inevitable happened, and every American who took basic economics knew what would come:

Too much cash chasing too few goods happened. Gas was under $2 a gallon. And then everything started to rise as the inflation tax of too much government spending took hold, and milk and eggs and coffee, beef and bread, everything rising and many Americans were forced to make choices.

There were moms and dads who skipped meals so their kids could eat. We never thought this would happen again in America, but it did. And some senior citizens had to select from medicine or food. It was the Democrats and their selling their “feelings” that got us here.

…..

Eventually, the people who do the work break down, like overworked mules or donkeys or rusty tractors. And those who make the pencils, and the farmers who grow the beef and vegetables, the chickens and the lentils and the wheat just can’t do it anymore, with or without Walter Duranty of the New York Times.

By then the shelves are empty. ….

Driscoll: “Speaking of Kass’s question to his fellow journalists, back in the early 1990s, far left Democrat George McGovern wrote in the Wall Street Journal:

I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S. senator and a more understanding presidential contender…

[M]y business associates and I also lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc. While I never have doubted the worthiness of any of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: “Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for the increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape.” It is a simple concern that is nonetheless often ignored by legislators.

“As Steve Hayward added earlier this month, ‘Well, just how much private sector experience do Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have between them? Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.  Not even with a non-profit organization (which maybe doesn’t count).’ “

The coming battle

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Two days ago I posted on a small example of Deep State perfidy: how Kamalla Harris’ brother-in-law is using an obscure branch of the Treasury Department to funnel millions of dollars to the administration’s favored left wing advocacy groups. Similarly, and going back to Clinton’s reign, the DOJ has been engaging in “friendly suits”: a liberal group is encouraged by the government lawyers to bring suit over some position: immigration, for instance, or environmental, and the DOJ immediately settles by entering into a consent decree granting the group’s demands. This will only accelerate in the next four years should Democrat rule be extended.

D.C. Swamp-Dwellers Say It Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the Presidency, They’ll Do What They Want

Robert Spencer:

In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2017, Trump announced:

“Today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another—but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American People. For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.... That all changes — starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

…. Trump’s promise that power would be transferred back to the people remains unfulfilled. Trump has been criticized for failing to follow through on his promise, but at that time, no one knew just how entrenched and determined the swamp dwellers were.

In fact, before Trump was elected and the Washington bureaucracy rose against him, few people, if any, knew that there was a swamp at all. One of the most important results of the Trump presidency was not one anyone intended: it revealed the deep corruption and politicization of the civil service. Now, a more experienced Trump is again vowing to destroy the swamp, but the swamp-dwellers are insisting that they’re not going anywhere and will continue to run things. The gauntlet has been thrown down. 

The Washington Examiner reported Thursday that the will of the people just doesn’t matter to Beltway bureaucrats: “Washington’s bureaucracy, expanded and emboldened by the Biden-Harris administration, feels so secure that most managers would impose new regulations even if voters ‘overwhelmingly’ rejected their plans.” 

According to a new survey, fully 54% of “federal government managers would defy voters to do what they want.” The Napolitan Institute, which states that “we recognize that the only legitimate authority for government comes from the consent of the governed,” and that “our mission is to amplify and magnify the voice of the American people so clearly and powerfully that it becomes the driving, framing and shaping force for the crucial conversations of our nation,” conducted a survey of 500 swamp denizens, aka federal bureaucrats.

One of the questions these arrogant usurpers were asked was this: “Imagine that you work for a government agency and have the ability to draft new regulations. After carefully researching an important issue, you determine that a new regulation is needed. If voters overwhelmingly oppose that regulation, what should you do?” The Examiner notes that “just 35% would follow the wishes of voters and trash their regulation while 54% would ‘follow your research and issue the regulation.’ The rest were unsure.”