As Slade Cantrell, the villain portrayed by Joe Flaherty in the SCTV parody serial "Six Gun Justice" used to say, these Russian war critics seem to die "real accidental like."
Russian sausage tycoon, Pavel Antov, died in a fall from a window at an Indian hotel, two days after a friend died during the same trip.
More from the BBC:
They were visiting the eastern state of Odisha and the millionaire, who was also a local politician, had just celebrated his birthday at the hotel.Antov was a well known figure in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow.Last summer he denied criticising Russia's war in Ukraine after a message appeared on his WhatsApp account.The millionaire's death is the latest in a series of unexplained deaths involving Russian tycoons since the start of the Russian invasion, many of whom have openly criticised the war.
Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Merry Christmas! Here's my holiday post at Da Tech Guy: Christmas musings from an alienated “bah humbug” conservative in a Blue State.
Let me get this bit out of the way before I attack, once again, the media.
Republican George Santos is apparently a serial liar about himself. In an upset, Santos was elected to Congress in New York's 3rd congressional district, an area that covers parts of Queens and Long Island. According to a New York Times report, Santos lied about his career and his education. And while he ran as an openly gay man, Santos, according to the Daily Beast, was married to a woman. They divorced in 2019. I'm calling for Santos to not take his seat in Congress or quickly resign after being sworn in. Hey, I'm not familiar with the protocol. Our party needs to hold ourselves to a higher standard than the Democrats.
Meanwhile, a comedian, attorney, and Sirius XM host, Dean Obeidallah, in a seemingly powerful MSNBC op-ed, blames the current status of local media for missing Santos fish story falling through the cracks.
But Santos slipping through an election with such little scrutiny is also a tale of the gutting of local newsrooms. The result is fewer reporters to investigate candidates in their own backyard. When President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which significantly raised caps on the number of local newspapers and television stations a single corporation could own, the era of corporate media consolidation took hold. Local news outlets, be they urban or rural, lost resources and laid off reporters. And that was before Covid.
Well, local newspapers might attract more readers if they weren't infected by wokeness and pushing narratives, such as climate change, that the majority of Americans care little about. As former Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass regularly points out in his podcast, his former employer and the Chicago Sun-Times might attract more readers if it covered a topic many more people care about--crime--in a manner that CWB Chicago does.
What Obeidallah didn't mention in his Santos op-ed is that the New York Times didn't report on Santos reputed lies until after his election win.
The New York Times is based where?
But Obeidallah can't bring himself to condemn the holy book of the left, the New York Times. He's part of the problem.
Where will Adam Kinzinger live now? Despite what the Chicago Tribune says, I believe Kinzinger is headed out of state--probably so he can work as a contributor for CNN or MSNBC.
Fron the Chicago Tribune by way of the Pantagraph:
As U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger prepares to leave Congress after 12 years, just days after casting a historic committee vote recommending criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, the Republican politician from Illinois finds himself literally a man without a home.
Shunned by Republican organizations nationally and in his home state, his district evaporated by Democrats to make him politically unelectable, Kinzinger has sold his family’s Channahon home, though he said he’s inclined to stay in Illinois.
But ask the 44-year-old once-rising star in the GOP about what the future holds for himself and his view of the country, it yields more questions than answers.
Instead Kinzinger — who along with U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was the most outspoken House GOP critic of Trumpian Republicanism — said he intends to stay involved in politics “but I think definitely there needs to be a little bit of a moment and a break and a reset right now.”
There is some rare good news out of Chicago. From my post at Da Tech Guy, Hope for the future: Lightfoot badly trails in first poll of 2023 Chicago mayoral race.
Over this past weekend six people were shot to death and at least 25 others were wounded. There was a mass shooting outside a bar in Belmont Cragin on the Northwest Side, in which two men and one woman were killed and one woman was wounded.
Also over the weekend, Joseph Kromelis, 75, a homeless man who was set on fire in May on Lower Wacker Drive downtown, died yesterday afternoon.
Also, Mike Flannery, on his Fox Chicago Flannery Fired Up show, said that for the third straight year Chicago may exceed 700 homicides. That's something you can say to apologists who will tell you crime is down in Chicago.
From Just the News:
A new report lists the Land of Lincoln as the least tax-friendly state in the nation for middle-class families.
The report was done by Kiplinger and ranked the 10 worst states for middle-class families when looking at the state's overall tax burden.
"Sorry, Illinois, but you're the least tax-friendly state in the country for middle-class families," the report said.
Illinois finished poorly on the list due to the impact on the middle class from the state's flat income tax rate, average combined state and local sales tax and its high property tax burden that ranks second highest in the country.
As the song says, it will be a Blue Christmas.
From Fox Business:
Inflation at the wholesale level rose more than expected in November as prices for everyday necessities remain at a multi-decade high.
The Labor Department said Friday that its producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers, rose 0.3% in November from the previous month. On an annual basis, prices soared 7.4%.
That is down from the 8% reading recorded in October and marks the lowest reading since May 2021.
Still, those figures were both higher than the 7.2% headline figure and 0.2% monthly gain forecast by Refinitiv economists, a worrisome sign for the Federal Reserve as it seeks to cool price gains and tame consumer demand with the most aggressive interest rate hike campaign since the 1980s.
Excluding food, energy and trade services, inflation at the wholesale level increased 0.3% for the month — up from a 0.2% gain in October. Over the past 12 months, core prices climbed 4.9%.
No one is perfect, including Elon Musk.
Why didn't he fire Jim Baker earlier?
From Fox Business:
Elon Musk said that Twitter's former Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker was "exited" from the company on Tuesday after revelations about his role in the platform's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Journalist Matt Taibbi published internal communications over the weekend that took place among Twitter's top brass in October 2020 about how to deal with the New York Post's publication of materials on Hunter Biden's laptop.
Baker was involved in discussions about whether the laptop falls under Twitter's "hacked materials" policy. "I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked," Baker wrote in one email chain.In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 6, 2022
"At this stage, however, it's reasonable for us to assume that they may have been and that caution is warranted."
27. Former VP of Global Comms Brandon Borrman asks, “Can we truthfully claim that this is part of the policy?” pic.twitter.com/Rh5HL8prOZ
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Axios Chicago offers more proof of the endemic incompetence of Chicago's municipal government by reporting that yard waste collection, including of course fallen autumn leaves, in Chicago has plummeted 60 percent--even though requests to collect yard waste has soared in the last couple of years.
In Illinois, it's illegal to place yard waste in landfills. Chicago residents with yard waste are supposed to bag their yard waste in paper bags and call 311 so the Department of Streets and Sanitation Department for collection and composting.
The first weekend of December saw four deadly shootings in Chicago.
On Friday, two men were shot another wounded in a drive by shooting in Austin on the West Side. One of the slain was Xavier Lofton of suburban Bellwood, a local actor.
On Saturday, in Auburn Gresham on the South Side, two men were discovered shot to death by Chicago Police officers.
Overall, at least twelve people were wounded in weekend Chicago shootings.
Yes, democracy dies in darkness as does the truth. From my post at Da Tech Guy, My take on the Twitter Files revelations: the truth dies in darkness.
The 2020 presidential election was not a free and fair election. The Daily Mail has more: Elon Musk reveals Democrats lawmakers blasted Twitter for failing to censor MORE content after New York Post Hunter Biden laptop scandal - with lawmakers claiming 'free speech isn't absolute.'
Parker is a retired public school teacher
About himself, Parker says:
A classical liberal, not socially conservative. Politically conservative, I believe the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted literally--that a nation that can't abide by simple set of rules written on ONE page doesn't deserve to exist. Economically conservative: I believe the market, not government, should solve a nation's economic problems. A classical liberal, I understand that social, political, and economic freedom are so inherently interconnected that society cannot restrict one without restricting the other two. Why restrict any of them?
Those are great points. Parker says he is "a card-carrying member of the ACLU," but he bemoans that this group, far from being one of my favorites by the way, should also fight for economic freedom.
Parker in his book champions the heroes of Western civilization, men such as F.A. Hayek, John Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Fredrick Douglass. Oh, and of course, the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Naturally, Parker is an opponent of multiculturism, one of the prominent cards--in my words--in the woke deck. How did our society move away from Western civilization to multiculturism?
Parker writes:
The shift came about because multiculturalists value individual security more than they value individual freedom--why they abandon principle of individual liberty to achieve (in their minds) a greater collective good: economic and social equality, as if beyond political equality, social and economic equality are possible, as if the U.S. Constitution wasn't designed to prevent such an attempt. Outside socialist totalitarianism, social and economic equality are not possible.The first part of that passage reminds me of the story Dan Bongino relates from The Walking Dead television series, when the main characters voluntarily retreat into an old prison. They give up freedom of movement to protect themselves from murderous zombies. The second part of the passage takes me to my wife, who was born in that worker's paradise, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. "We were all equal in the Soviet Union," she always says, "we were all poor."
Thanksgiving weekend saw five fatal shootings and 23 others wounded in Chicago.
All of the deadly shootings occurred on Saturday. Two people were among four shot in a mass shooting in West Pullman on the South Side. Not too far away, Greater Grand Crossing and Auburn Gresham each saw a fatal shooting.
And on the West Side, a 40-year-old man was killed by a gunshot to the head in West Garfield Park.
So far in 2022, there have been 668 homicides in Chicago, according to Hey Jackass.
Up at Wirepoints is a great article but something horrid, the SAFE-T Act.
Click on the link to learn more: Poor communities bear the brunt of crime unleashed by Cook County bail reform and the SAFE-T Act according to New Manhattan Institute report.
The fatalities include a 15-year-old girl and a 44-year-old man were shot to death in Austin on the West Side on Sunday night, a third person was wounded.
In another Sunday night West Side triple-shooting, this time in East Garfield Park, a 31-year-old man was killed.
On the political front, today is the first day where candidates for mayor of Chicago can file petitions to appear on the ballot--the first round of voting takes place in late February. As I've mentioned before, the incumbent, Lori Lightfoot, will run for reelection. As a candidate four years ago, Lightfoot said the level of violence then was "unacceptable."
Only it's higher now.
And how will John Fetterman be able to follow discussions in Senate committees and on the floor of the upper chamber?
Pennsylvanians, you made a big mistake.
From Fox News:
Rebecca Kirszner Katz, adviser to Senator-Elect John Fetterman, argued on Twitter that reporters’ traditional method of "yelling questions" at senators in the hallways "will not work" with the Democratic Pennsylvania politician.Her comment came following a Tuesday tweet from HuffPost senior politics reporter Igor Bobic, who mentioned that Fetterman did not respond to a question as they passed each other. "Spotted in Senate basement: John Fetterman.He didn’t answer when I asked if he’ll be able to wear his hoodie on Senate floor." Bobic tweeted.Katz later responded to Bobic’s question and also added the act of "yelling questions at Senators" will no longer "work" as Fetterman continues to recover from the stroke that he suffered back in May.
Here's a story, from the Chicago Sun-Times, that isn't getting the attention it deserves. Yes, Robinson, 80, was released under a bill, the First Step Act, that was signed into law by Donald Trump. But I believe Robinson should remain locked up--ordering a contract killing is not a crime of passion.
More from the Sun-Times:
Noah Robinson Jr., an Ivy League-educated millionaire businessman with fast-food restaurants, was convicted of hiring hit men from Chicago’s notorious El Rukn street gang to kill a boyhood friend, Leroy "Hambone" Barber, after they got into a fistfight in South Carolina, where they’d grown up.Prosecutors opposed freeing Robinson.A woman who witnessed the killing was wounded in a later hit that Robinson ordered, and he ordered another hit that wasn’t carried out, prosecutors said. Robinson also was accused of helping El Rukn members connect with East Coast cocaine and heroin suppliers.Robinson was taken into federal custody in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison, but his 1991 conviction was overturned after prosecutors were accused of misconduct. He was retried in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison — a sentence that has been commuted to time served.He was released last month. Robinson had asked in 2020 for a "compassionate release" under the First Step Act signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018.
The first weekend after the midterm elections saw six dead and at least 21 others wounded. Chicago goes from one election to another--as the first round of municipal elections will be in late February. Incumbent Lori Lightfoot is running for reelection. As a candidate in 2019 she said that the current level of violence is too high.
It's higher now.
My midterm autopsy is up and ready at Da Tech Guy: At least overconfidence won’t be a problem for the GOP in 2024 as it was after the two Red Wave elections–and other thoughts.
Over the past weekend five people were shot to death at least 32 other people were wounded in Chicago. Five teens were shot--one of them fatally.
And there was a mass shooting outside a River North night club early Sunday morning where four people were shot--and one of those victims was killed.
Matt Rosenberg at Wirepoints gives more details on Chicago's decent into hell: More crimes, more weapons, few arrests, an Uber driver’s carjacking tale accents Chicago’s ongoing decay.
Around 100 years ago Argentina and the United States weren't far apart economically. Then came massive government spending on social programs in Argentina.