Author Archives: Dana Pico

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The internal segregation in Philly is only going to increase.

Philadelphia has a ‘diverse’ population — and I’ve come to despise the word ‘diverse’ — as a whole, but, as The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, is one of our most internally segregated large cities.

  • The eight-county region’s Black-white residential segregation is the fourth highest among the 20 biggest metropolitan areas, as defined by the Census Bureau. The region is the sixth-most segregated between Hispanic and white residents.
  • Among the 30 biggest cities, Philadelphia is second only to Chicago in its level of residential segregation between Black and white residents, according to data from Brown University. Between Hispanic and white residents, it’s the sixth-most segregated.
  • Considering every U.S. county that has at least 10,000 people and a Black population of at least 5%, Philadelphia is more segregated than 94% of them.
  • While residential segregation between Black and white residents has declined nationwide over the last several decades, it’s happened much slower in Philadelphia. The city’s position near the top of rankings of segregated places has stayed almost the same since 1980

The newspaper’s Editorial Board were aghast that the internal segregation of the City of Brotherly Love has meant that black and Hispanic residents feel far less safe than white residents. However, sometimes economic stories address the issue in ways that the opinion writers don’t notice: Continue reading →

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Secular liberalism has infected religion, and liberal religion has infected secular politics

And here I thought that Catholic bishops and priests were supposed to be guided by the Bible in which they have professed belief!

On same-gender blessings specifically, (Bishop Helmut) Dieser (of Aachen, Germany) challenged the Vatican’s ban on them, saying priests and other pastoral ministers should be guided by their consciences when deciding on whether to bless couples.

Diocese Promotes Valentine’s Day Blessings with Photo of Queer Couple Kissing

Continue reading →

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Someone needs to check the water supply in Loudoun County Something is making public officials lie through their scummy teeth

It seems that Loudoun County, Virginia, isn’t the greatest place to work or go to school.

Remember the sexual assault by a ‘transgender’ student against a girl in the girls’ bathroom, which came to light when the victim’s father was demanding answers from the school board, and then dragged to the floor and arrested. It was all a big right-wing myth, the credentialed media told us:

The media’s defense of transgenderism fell apart quickly when the rapist was found guilty. Continue reading →

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You can never solve a problem unless you admit what the problem is, and Philly’s Democrats won’t do that

As we noted on Friday, with “(N)early thirty” spent shell casings — and an Inquirer photo shows a #29 evidence marker at the shell casings — and three shooters, and everyone is going to know that this was a targeted hit intended for one or more of the victims, and this is Philly same old, same old. Of course we were right!

The Strawberry Mansion shooting that wounded 7 was a targeted attack that hit bystanders — including a 2-year-old and her mother

Surveillance footage shows the three black-clad masked shooters firing at the teenagers, as bystanders flee stray bullets.

by Rodrigo Torrejón, Oona Goodin-Smith, and Chris Palmer | Friday, February 24, 2023 | 11:02 PM EST

The shooting that wounded seven people Thursday evening in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood appeared to be a targeted attack between three shooters and a group of teenagers — with stray bullets injuring a 2-year-old girl and her mother — police said Friday. The gunmen remain at large.

It occurred shortly before 6 p.m. as the group of four teens rounded the corner of 31st and Norris Streets, in front of a beer distributor and half a block from James G. Blaine School.

Surveillance footage shows that as the group turned the corner, three black-clad masked shooters hopped out of a silver Hyundai parked in front of the beer shop and began to shoot at the teenagers using at least one gun with an extended clip — peppering the street with gunfire. . . . .

Police said Friday they are still searching for three shooters and a gray, four-door Hyundai Elantra, possibly a model from 2011 to 2016, with an unknown Pennsylvania license plate. Police said it wasn’t immediately clear why the group of teens was targeted.

“It wasn’t immediately clear why the group of teens was targeted”? Bovine feces! It is crystal clear: one group had a beef with another, and in Philadelphia’s normal culture under Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, beefs among the gang-bangers “cliques of young men affiliated with certain neighborhoods and families” are settled with bullets. It wouldn’t be quite so bad if the bad guys underprivileged young men from neighborhoods depressed by years of housing ‘redlining’ and economic disinvestment were better shots and only struck their intended victims. Continue reading →

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Lies catch up to you

We have twice previously noted the story of a dog being killed in the City of Brotherly Love, far, far, far more coverage than The Philadelphia Inquirer gives to actual murder victims. I suppose that this story couldn’t have been ignored, considering the information, but this is the third story on the shooting of the dog.

The pit bull fatally shot by Philly’s top FBI agent severely injured another dog earlier this year, neighbors say

“Many of us in the building know that this dog was not completely innocent,” said one neighbor, describing the violent incident three weeks before the dog’s death Monday.

by Jeremy Roebuck | Friday, February 24, 2023

Less than a month before Jacqueline Maguire, the FBI’s top agent in Philadelphia, shot and killed a pit bull as it reportedly attacked her smaller dog on a Center City street this week, that pit bull seriously injured another dog, requiring three surgeries and $9,000 in vet bills, according to residents of the building where the earlier incident took place.

The Jan. 27 fracas — between the 7-year-old pit bull named Mia and a Siberian husky mix puppy that lived in the same apartment complex — prompted management to ban the pit bull from a community dog park and require it to be muzzled in all common areas, three neighbors at the Lincoln Square apartments at Broad Street and Washington Avenue said.

Those residents — most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with neighbors — said they were prompted to share the story with The Inquirer after seeing news of the pit bull’s fatal shooting Monday and in response to a TV interview in which the dog’s owner, Maria Esser, said she’d never had an incident with the dog before.

“It’s been a little frustrating,” said one resident who witnessed the earlier dog fight. “Many of us in the building know that this dog [Mia] was not completely innocent.”

There’s more at the original, and yes, in view of the Inquirer’s earlier coverage, the information in this article was necessary. But Miss Esser telling people that there’d never been trouble with her dog previously, when other residents had seen differently, $9,000 in veterinarian bills, and a photo in the article showing the bandages on the injured Siberian husky mix, would appear to cast doubt on Miss Esser’s claims.

I wonder what the animal rights activists are saying now?

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Killadelphia: Once again, The Philadelphia Inquirer tries to obscure the truth. Philly's "cliques of young men" are some really lousy shots!

According to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Current Crime Statistics page, there have been 68 people murdered in the City of Brotherly Love as of 11:59 PM EST on Thursday, February 23rd, four more than the previous day’s report.

The Twitter site Philly Crime Update reported on two of them, which was more than our nation’s third oldest continuously published daily newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, did. The Inky did, however, have a big story on a multiple shooting in which no one was killed, because it was near a school:

7 people, including a 2-year-old girl and 5 teenagers, were shot in Strawberry Mansion

The gunfire erupted just after 5:50 p.m. at 31st and Norris Streets, police said. Three shooters remained at large, police said.

by Robert Moran, Ellie Rushing, and Kristen A. Graham | Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 10:48 PM EST

Seven people, including a 2-year-old girl and five teenagers, were wounded in a shooting Thursday evening near a school in the city’s Strawberry Mansion section, police said.

The gunfire erupted just after 5:50 p.m. on the northeast corner of 31st and Norris Streets in front of a beer distributor, said police, who provided the following information on the victims:

  • 2-year-old black female who was shot in her left thigh, transported by private vehicle with a police escort to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, listed in stable condition.
  • 15-year-old male, race not specified, shot twice in the chest and once in the right side of his body was transported to Temple University Hospital, listed in critical condition.
  • 13-year-old black male shot in his left hand, transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, listed in stable condition.
  • 16-year-old black male shot in his left arm, transported to Temple University Hospital, listed in stable condition.
  • 16-year-old black male shot in his right arm and left leg was taken by medics to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, reported in stable condition.
  • 17-year-old black male with a graze wound to his thigh was transported by Uber to Thomas Jefferson, reported in stable condition.
  • 31-year-old black female, was shot twice in the left leg, transported to Temple, listed in stable condition.

Except that, nope, what I listed above was the information actually provided by the police. What the Inquirer published was:

A 2-year-old girl who was shot in her left thigh was transported by private vehicle with a police escort to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was listed in stable condition.

A 15-year-old boy shot twice in the chest and once in the right side of his body was transported to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

A 13-year-old boy shot in his left hand also was transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was listed in stable condition.

A 16-year-old boy shot in his left arm also was taken to Temple and was reported in stable condition.

Another 16-year-old boy shot in his right arm and left leg was taken by medics to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was reported in stable condition.

A 17-year-old boy with a graze wound to his thigh was transported by Uber to Thomas Jefferson and was reported in stable condition.

The seventh victim, a 31-year-old woman, was shot twice in the left leg. She was listed in stable condition at Temple.

Note that the newspaper deliberately scrubbed all references to race from their story. It’s nice to have the direct confirmation of what I have been saying, that the Inky has been deliberately censoring the information they have received, in order to fulfill publisher Elizabeth Hughes’ dictate that the newspaper will be an “anti-racist news organization,” but at some point, I’ve got to ask: who do they think they’re fooling? It’s Strawberry Mansion, and anybody who knows anything about Philly will simply assume that the victims are black.

Of course, it wasn’t just the victims about whom the Inky censored information:

Late Thursday night, police said they were looking for three shooters and a gray 4-door Hyundai Elantra, possibly a model year from 2011 to 2016, with an unknown Pennsylvania license plate.

The Inquirer printed the same images that Philly Crime Update had received from the police, but the newspaper censored the fact that all three suspects are black males, another thing that almost all readers would suspect. “(N)early thirty” spent shell casings — and an Inquirer photo shows a #29 evidence marker at the shell casings — and three shooters, and everyone is going to know that this was a targeted hit intended for one or more of the victims, and this is Philly same old, same old. The police will interrogate the victims, to attempt to find out which one had been the real target, though it’s always possible that the intended victim will clam up, expecting street justice from other members of his crew.

One final point: at least 29 rounds fired, and the gang-bangers “clique of young men”[1]We were reliably informed by The Philadelphia Inquirer that there are no gangs in the city, just “cliques of young men affiliated with certain neighborhoods and families,” who sometimes … Continue reading didn’t actually kill anyone? Philly’s “cliques of young men” are some really rotten shots!

References

References
↑1 We were reliably informed by The Philadelphia Inquirer that there are no gangs in the city, just “cliques of young men affiliated with certain neighborhoods and families,” who sometimes had “beefs” with other cliques, so we must replace the term “gang-bangers” with “cliques of young men” or “clique beefers”. District Attorney Larry Krasner and his office seem to prefer the term “rival street groups“
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Another soft-on-crime “progressive” prosecutor gets in trouble

With some major cities saddled by George Soros-sponsored “progressive” chief prosecutors, law enforcement officials whose goals are not to protect the public, but to keep criminals out of jail, sensible people have been trying to take action. Endorsed by such liberal luminaries as as Senatore Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cooks County State Attorney Kim Foxx, and Philadelphia’s District Attorney Larry Krasner, Chesa Boudin won the race for District Attorney in San Francisco:

Boudin campaigned for the office on a decarceration platform of eliminating cash bail, establishing a unit to re-evaluate wrongful convictions, and refusing to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with raids and arrests. The San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA) and other law enforcement groups spent $650,000 in an unsuccessful effort to defeat Boudin. Attorney General William Barr criticized Boudin and like-minded DAs, accusing them of undermining the police, letting criminals off the hook, and endangering public safety. In an interview during the COVID-19 pandemic, Boudin questioned whether the nation “can safely continue the national system of mass incarceration. Why do we need to take people to jail for non-violent offenses if what they really need is drug treatment or mental health services?”

Even liberal San Franciscans had had enough, and Mr Boudin lost his position in a recall election on June 7, 2022.

Let ’em Loose Larry Krasner, about whom we’ve written numerous times, doesn’t have to worry about a recall election; there is no provision in Pennsylvania law for such a thing. The Pennsylvania state House of Representatives impeached Mr Krasner, but the state Senate has not yet held the trial, and it’s being held up by legal issues.

Now we have this, from the St Louis Post-Dispatch:

Missouri attorney general’s ultimatum to Kim Gardner: Resign or face removal from office

Jack Suntrup | Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said late Wednesday that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner would face removal from office if she didn’t resign by noon Thursday.

Bailey, a Republican, said he would initiate “quo warranto” proceedings to remove Gardner if she didn’t quit.

Under the Missouri state Constitution, quo warranto may be used to remove officials not subject to impeachment from office. The state The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear quo warranto proceedings to remove county officer. State ex rel. Danforth v. Orton (Mo.), 465 S.W.2d 618.

The announcement adds to mounting pressure facing Gardner, a Democrat, after a 17-year-old volleyball player from Tennessee lost her legs in an accident involving a man out of jail with pending robbery charges.

Gardner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.

Former Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, used the manuever to seek the removal of the Dent County prosecutor in 2009. The action centers around whether a person has forfeited the legal right to hold public office.

“As Attorney General, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes protecting victims of crime and finding justice for them,” Bailey said in a statement Wednesday night.

St Louis city only recently lost it’s status as the murder capital of America, to New Orleans, but it’s still right at the top. With an even 200 homicides in 2022, and a guesstimated population of 293,310, the Gateway City has a homicide rate of 68.19 per 100,000 residents.

“Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them. My office will do everything in its power to restore order, and eliminate the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s neglect of her office.”

Bailey said Gardner “has a long history of failure to prosecute violent crime, with a backlog of at least 3,000 cases.

“It is time for the Circuit Attorney to go and for the rule of law and justice to prevail,” he said.

The Associated Press reported:

Daniel Riley, photo via Fox 17 WZTV Nashville. Click to enlarge.

The Missouri attorney general called Wednesday for the resignation of St. Louis’ elected prosecutor, after a motorist who repeatedly violated his bond conditions on earlier charges crashed and injured a teenage volleyball player from Tennessee, resulting in amputation of both of her legs.

The case has renewed criticism of Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner amid questions about why the driver wasn’t behind bars after court records showed more than 50 violations of bond conditions. . . . .

Police said Daniel Riley, 21, an unlicensed driver, was speeding and failed to yield at an intersection when his vehicle hit another car that then struck (Janae Edmondson, a 16-year-old player in town for a volleyball tournament). Riley was out on bond after a 2020 robbery charge that was dismissed and re-filed last year.

His bond violations included letting his GPS monitor die and breaking terms for his house arrest, according to court records, which show he violated bond at least seven times since Feb. 1, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Court officials said they didn’t know Riley had violated his bond because prosecutors had never filed a motion to revoke it.

Emphases mine.

Let me be clear about this: Janae Edmonson has lost her legs directly due to the negligence and outright disregard for her duty by Circuit Attorney Gardner. If Miss Gardner and her minions had done their duty, Miss Edmonson would be able to walk today.

This is the kind of thing which ‘progressive’ prosecutors’ policies yield. Leaving criminals out on the streets, ignoring even the smaller crimes, such as Mr Riley’s (allegedly) violating his bond conditions, results in tragedies for innocent people.
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Are dog lives more important to “animal rights activists” than defending your own dog, and yourself, from an attacking dog?

We noted on Tuesday how The Philadelphia Inquirer paid more attention to the shooting of a dog than the newspaper usually does when people are killed. Well, here they go again!

Who is Jacqueline Maguire, the FBI’s top agent in Philly facing scrutiny for fatally shooting a dog in Center City?

The head of Philadelphia’s FBI field office is facing an investigation after she shot and killed a pit bull outside a Center City apartment building Monday evening.

by Jeremy Roebuck | Ash Wednesday, February 22,2023 | 5:55 PM EST

The shooting of a pit bull by an off-duty FBI agent on a busy Center City street this week has sparked an uproar on social media and protests by animal rights activists outside the FBI’s offices on Arch Street.

The Inquirer gave us 687 words in the story, exclusive of the headline, subtitle, story byline, and not one but two photos of Jacqueline Maguire.

Here’s what we know about the incident, the agent involved, and what happens next:

Philadelphia police and the FBI have confirmed that an off-duty FBI agent shot “an aggressive dog” outside the Touraine apartment tower on the 1500 block of Spruce Street on Monday. But so far, they haven’t named the agent involved, citing FBI protocol that governs the bureau’s response whenever an agent is involved in a shooting.

Two sources familiar with the investigation identified the shooter as Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office. The dog’s owner, Maria Esser, said her 7-year-old pit bull, Mia, died within moments of being shot.

So, neither the Philadelphia Police nor the FBI released Miss Maguire’s name, citing policy, but the Inky had to dig deep and find out from inside sources.

Naturally, the Police and FBI have procedures through which they have to go during their investigations.

Security cameras outside the apartment building captured footage of the shooting. And while police have not publicly released the video, one source who reviewed the tape described it to The Inquirer on Tuesday.

According to the source, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing probe, the video shows Maguire sitting on a bench with her small dog in her lap as a woman walking two other dogs passed by. One of the dogs — Mia — suddenly dragged her owner toward Maguire, snatched the small dog off the agent’s lap, and began aggressively shaking it, the source said.

Maguire threw herself into the fight and tried to separate the animals, eventually drawing her weapon and placing it directly against the pit bull’s hindquarters before firing, the source said.

The pit bull’s owner claimed that Agent Maguire’s use of force was a “reckless” disregard for safety, for the dog, and bystanders. I don’t know about you, but if I was trying to save my dog from a larger, attacking animal, I would call that, if accurately described, a reasonable use of force. Actually, from the description, which matched a statement by Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore, I would say that Maria Esser, the pit bull’s owner, could face charges for losing control of a dangerous animal.

(Miss Esser) and animal rights activists who gathered to protest Tuesday outside of the FBI’s offices on Arch Street are calling for Maguire to be held accountable.

Really? For defending her dog, and herself, from Miss Esser’s (allegedly) out of control dog?

In the meantime, Philly’s homicide total went from 62 Monday night to 63 Tuesday night, but there were no stories at all on that killing, in either the Inquirer’ website main page or specific crime page.

Yup, we know what’s more important to the Inky!

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Why is the Pope taking religious actions in a political squabble?

I have been saying it all along: I cannot see how any priest, any bishop, or any pope, would want to see fewer Catholics in the pews.

Pope intervenes again to restrict celebration of Latin Mass

Story by By Nicole Winfield | Tuesday, February 21, 2023

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has intervened for the third time to crack down on the celebration of the old Latin Mass, a sign of continued friction with Catholic traditionalists.

Francis reasserted in a new legal decree published Tuesday that the Holy See must approve new celebrations of the old rite by signing off on bishops’ decisions to designate additional parish churches for the Latin Mass or to let newly ordained priests celebrate it.

The decree states that the Vatican’s liturgy office, headed by British Cardinal Arthur Roche, is responsible for evaluating such requests on behalf of the Holy See and that all requests from bishops must go there.

For weeks, Catholic traditionalist blogs and websites have reported a further crackdown on the old Latin Mass was in the works, following Francis’ remarkable decision in 2021 to reimpose restrictions on its celebration that were relaxed in 2007 by then-Pope Benedict XVI.

Francis said at the time that he was acting preserve church unity, saying the spread of the Tridentine Mass had become a source of division and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

Yes, it’s true: there are a few, few! Catholics who have rejected Vatican II. Those few will not attend a Novus ordo Mass, so the Holy Father is, in effect, casting them out of the Church altogether.

More, I would guess, are attracted to the Tridentine Mass because of the grandeur of that Mass, in the same fashion that many Protestants cling to the King James Bible, the lofty, Elizabethan English. They will attend Novus ordo Masses, but I suspect that they might not attend as frequently, being disappointed with the services.

The primary mission of the Church is, and always has been, to bring more people to God. But the Holy Father seems to be doing his best to run off some of the most devout Catholics around, and he’s doing it for political rather than religious reasons, to try to disarm the critics who oppose him on the ‘social justice’ issues.