Author Archives: Dana Pico

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A surprising (?) new twist in the Josh Kruger case This looks to me to be a set-up for Robert Davis' legal defense

There were rumors floating around for a couple of days now that 39-year-old Josh Kruger, shot to death in his home at 2346 Watkins Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Philadelphia, allegedly by 19-year-old Robert Edmond Davis, had not only been in a ‘relationship’ with Mr Davis, but had been so while Mr Davis was still a minor. What I did not expect is that, even if true, The Philadelphia Inquirer would report on them:

Family of man wanted for killing Josh Kruger says the 19-year-old and the journalist shared sex and drugs

The assertions by Robert Davis’ mother and older brother add new complexities to a killing that has garnered national attention.

Continue reading →

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The Israeli-Hamas War and the frustration of the Usual Suspects

As my good friend and occasional blog pinch-hitter William Teach has noted, the Editorial Board of The New York Times has unambiguously supported Israel following the sneak attacks by Hamas guerrilla fighters.

The brutal terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas is a tragedy, one that may change the course of the nation and the entire region.

The Editorial Board minced no words in calling the attacks “terrorist,” which they certainly were:

To the world’s horror, they attacked civilians — including older people, women and children — and took them hostage. More than 150 people remain captive in Gaza, in a further atrocity.

As we previously reported, the Times covered the attacks extensively. The 24-hour cable news networks? They are doing the same thing. But, as we also reported, the very #woke[1]From Wikipedia: Woke (/ˈwoʊk/) as a political term of African-American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from … Continue reading Philadelphia Inquirer has been strangely quiet on the whole thing. Columnist Trudy Rubin, who does appear to support the Israelis at least somewhat, criticized Israel’s security policies, which is at least realistic given that the nation was caught completely by surprise.

Far-left columnist Will Bunch? He gave the obligatory statement that yes, Hamas attack was “butcherous,” “immoral and unconscionable”, right before blaming Israel and it’s “long-running, brutal occupation regime”:

When I was 11, I naively hoped the song lyric, “War! What is it good for?” would be a transistor-radio memory and not a question I’d be asking myself again and again for the rest of my life. The butcherous attacks by Hamas on civilians in southern Israel are immoral and unconscionable — as are Israel’s policies that turned the Gaza Strip into an open-air prison for 2 million people. There were plenty of chances for the world to fight for peace in this troubled land, instead of waiting until the bombs are bursting in air, when it is always too late. On that same plastic radio, I heard John Lennon sing, “War is over … if you want it.” He would have turned 83 on Monday. .  .  .  .

This week’s question: Most U.S. politicians have rightly condemned the barbarous attacks on civilians by Hamas, but with little mention of Israel’s long-running, brutal occupation regime. Is that fair under these circumstances? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me your answer.

American leftists supporting a people who would throw them in jail — or off a tall building — if they were actually queer in ‘Palestine.’

The newspaper’s Editorial Board? Pretty much the same thing, telling readers how horrible Hamas surprise attack was, but then turning right around to blame congressional Republicans, and, for good measure, Donald Trump:

Over the weekend, rather than uniting around a plan for peace, Republican leaders, including Trump, tried to sow division by blaming Biden for releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in August as part of a prisoner swap.

Never mind that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the money was earmarked for humanitarian support and had not been spent yet. Or that Trump may share some blame in provoking the Palestinians — and encouraging Netanyahu’s right-wing supporters — when he moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

It would take someone completely uneducated in economics to fail to understand that even if the freed dollars were entirely spent on “humanitarian support,” the fact that they exist frees up other money which can be then used for other things, including weapons. And President Trump was simply obeying a long ago passed law which mandated the embassy move to Israel’s capital. Continue reading →

References

References
↑1 From Wikipedia:

Woke (/ˈwoʊk/) as a political term of African-American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke“, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues. By the late 2010s, woke had been adopted as a more generic slang term broadly associated with left-wing politics and cultural issues (with the terms woke culture and woke politics also being used). It has been the subject of memes and ironic usage. Its widespread use since 2014 is a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.

I shall confess to sometimes “ironic usage” of the term. To put it bluntly, I think that the ‘woke’ are just boneheadedly stupid.
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1,891 lives saved in Kentucky!

I’m sure that columnist Linda Blackford and the rest of the editorial staff of the Lexington Herald-Leader are aghast, but almost 1,900 lives were saved!

Kentucky abortions dropped by nearly half last year, showing impact of statewide bans

by Alex Aquisto | Thursday, October 5, 2023 | 4:48 PM EDT | Updated: 5:11 PM EDT

The number of reported abortions provided in Kentucky last year dropped by roughly 43 percent, according to new annual report tracking the medical procedure.

The reduction in legal pregnancy terminations correlates directly with the commonwealth’s trigger law banning abortion and a six-week ban, both of which became enforceable last summer with the overturning of federal abortion protections by the U.S. Supreme Court. Continue reading →

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Israel is great, militarily, but let’s tell the truth here: they have proven to be poor conquerors. 

New York Times website main page, October 8, 2023. Click to enlarge.

That The New York Times is unabashedly liberal is of no surprise to anyone, but at least the Gray Lady does cover the news. My normal first read of newspapers is The Philadelphia Inquirer, which showed exactly one story concerning the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, on the website main page.

The Times had eight stories, covering the story from several different angles. Two clearly-labeled opinion pieces, by Thomas Friedman and Bret Stephens, added to the Times coverage, while none of the Inky’s columnists seemed interested in the story, the most important story of the day.

Hamas’s Control of Gaza Must End Now

by Bret Stephens | Saturday, October 7, 2023

It’s easy to note the parallels between Hamas’s attack on Israel on Saturday morning and the Yom Kippur war, which began 50 years ago Friday. Continue reading →

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The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Editorial Board know better than you MAGAts and deplorables how to rear your children! Just sit down and shut up, you MAGA extremists!

Hillary Clinton said the quiet point out loud, saying “At some point maybe there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the (MAGA) cult members.” I’m pretty sure that the Editorial Board of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who are very, very upset that some parents do not want their children exposed to groomer material, agree!

Book bans have no place in a free society | Editorial

Pennsylvania ranks among the top states for book bans in schools. Legislators in Harrisburg must take a stand against censorship.

by The Editorial Board | Saturday, October 7, 2023 | 6:00 AM EDT

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel about a firefighter who burns down houses that own books. The 1953 novel, which some have tried to ban over the years, is set in an unnamed city in the distant future.

In many ways, that disturbing future doesn’t feel too far removed from what’s happening right now.

By one count, there were more than 3,300 instances of banned books in public schools across the country during the last academic year — a 33% increase compared with 2021-22. Efforts to challenge and take books off the shelves have overtaken school boards and local libraries nationwide, dividing towns and pitting neighbor against neighbor.

The Philadelphia suburbs are ground zero for many of the book bans in Pennsylvania, which ranks among the top states for book bans in schools. It is a shameful distinction for a state founded by William Penn as a haven for religious freedom for fellow Quakers.

You know, I agree with the article headline: “Book bans have no place in a free society.” But what the Editorial Board have missed is that, when it comes to the public schools, we are not talking about a free society! Pennsylvania, like every other state, has a compulsory education law, requiring that youngsters between certain ages attend school! While parents do have the option of sending their kids to a private school or to homeschool them — if they follow government regulations — they are also required to pay property taxes to support the public schools anyway. Continue reading →

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More media tributes for the connected white guy in Philly.

We have previously noted how the Philadelphia media have been all over the story of the murder of freelance journalist Josh Kruger in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Police Department now have an arrest warrant for 19-year-old Robert Edmond Davis, charging him with murder and other crimes. Mr Davis was not in custody when the Police Department made the announcement, but one obvious point: if the police have not yet arrested Mr Davis, yet they have a mug shot of him, he has been arrested on other charges previously. It turns out that he was, to use the euphemism, “known to the police.”

And while Mr Davis mugshot is all over social media now, The Philadelphia Inquirer, declined to publish Mr Davis’ mugshot.

Police are searching for a 19-year-old man they believe killed Josh Kruger

Police are searching for Robert Davis, who they believe shot Kruger to death early Monday.

by Ellie Rushing | Friday, October 6, 2023 | 1:33 PM EDT | Updated: 2:52 PM EDT

Philadelphia police have issued an arrest warrant for a 19-year-old man they believe killed Josh Kruger, the local journalist fatally shot in his home earlier this week, officials said Friday.

Police are searching for Robert Davis, who investigators believe was an acquaintance of Kruger’s before he allegedly shot him multiple times Monday morning inside his Point Breeze home. The warrant includes charges for murder and related crimes, police said. Davis remains at large.

Lt. Hamilton Marshmond of the Homicide Unit said Kruger, 39, had been trying to help Davis, who was facing various troubles including homelessness.

“He was just trying to help him get through life,” Marshmond said.

We are, of course, not surprised in the least that the Inky did not publish Mr Davis’ mugshot, even if there was a possibility that such would help the police apprehend him more rapidly. After all, the Inquirer itself told us that, to meet publisher Elizabeth ‘Lisa’ Hughes’ requirement that it become an “anti-racist news organization,” the newspaper would censor the news, saying that the newspaper would be review its crime reporting practices.

Marshmond said Davis was known to police and had been arrested before, but declined to elaborate on officers’ earlier interactions with him. Court records show that Davis was arrested in August and charged with criminal trespassing and mischief, but the District Attorney’s Office withdrew the charges at a preliminary hearing the following month. Continue reading →

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Larry Krasner and the equal application of the law

The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States specifies:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Larry Krasner, the George Soros-sponsored, police hating defense lawyer who is currently serving as Philadelphia’s District Attorney says, in his brief Twitter bio, that he “fights for equal justice for the great people of Philadelphia. A fair and effective criminal justice system makes us safer.” Remember that: Mr Krasner is telling us that he seeks fairness. Continue reading →

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Bill Kristol and the Neocons sure love them some war Mr Kristol never served, but he's very willing to get other people's kids killed!

See Robert Stacy McCain: A Self-Inflicted Disaster as Republi-cans Vote to Boot Kevin McCarthy as Speaker

With the comedy show playing out in the House of Representatives over Kevin McCarthy being booted out of the Speaker’s chair, the warmongers are calling on the Representatives who support Ukraine to refuse to support anyone for Speaker who does not promise to hold a vote to continue funding Ukraine in the war there.

According to the neocons like Bill Kristol[1]Mr Kristol, born into a well-to-do family, now with an estimated net worth of $10 million, was born on December 23, 1952, which had him turning 18 in late 1970. If he really believed that war was a … Continue reading and Matt Boot, if Russia wins in Ukraine, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will then send his troops into other countries, NATO countries, in further wars of conquest. After all, we didn’t stop Adolf Hitler at Munich, right, and after he took the Sudetenland, and the rest of Czechoslovakia, he sent the Wehrmacht rolling into Poland.

But this isn’t 1939, and the Russian army hasn’t rolled over Ukraine in three weeks, the way the Nazis did in their half of Poland.[2]The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact ‘gave’ the USSR the eastern half of Poland, which the Red Army took. It’s been over a year and a half since the Russians invaded, and the war has been a costly stalemate for Russia, which holds part of Ukraine, but if the Russians are not advancing and conquering the whole country, the Ukrainians have been unable to kick the Russians out. Ukraine is being devastated, industries damaged or destroyed, and people are being killed, but the war is simply not moving much.

This is where the neocons have gotten it all wrong. Even if Russia, in the end, finally wins and conquers Ukraine, its army has been seriously weakened, through the loss of men and machines. For a victorious Russia to then turn against one of the Baltic States, all of which are NATO member, would require many years, probably a decade of rebuilding, rearming, and re-equipping the Russian army. Simply put, Russia can’t turn against Estonia quickly.

There’s more. Adolf Hitler was just 50 years old when Germany invaded Poland; President Putin turns 71 in three days. If it takes Russia ten years to rebuild its army to invade another country, Vladimir Vladimirovich would be 81 years old by that time. Will Mr Putin still be in power at age 81? Will he even live to see that age?

There is some serious World War II thinking infecting the neocons, but it isn’t World War II we are facing or fighting. The potential, if we get as involved as Mr Kristol wants, is not World War II, but World War III.

References

References
↑1 Mr Kristol, born into a well-to-do family, now with an estimated net worth of $10 million, was born on December 23, 1952, which had him turning 18 in late 1970. If he really believed that war was a great idea, he was of age to have enlisted in the United States Army to help fight in Vietnam .  .  . but he didn’t. His draft lotter number was 171, so he was kind of on the cusp of being called up to serve, but in any event, never served a single day in uniform. Being Jewish, Mr Kristol could also have volunteered to serve in the Israeli Defence Force, which could have used his service in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but he didn’t do that, either.
↑2 The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact ‘gave’ the USSR the eastern half of Poland, which the Red Army took.
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Being taught about white privilege, by The Philadelphia Inquirer

It has been pointed out countless times on The First Street Journal that The Philadelphia Inquirer only cares about individual homicides when the victim is an ‘innocent,’ a person already of some note, or a cute little white girl.

And so it has been with the killing of Josh Kruger. Continue reading →