Philadelphia and the culture of lawlessness

For a Democrat, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s chief editorial board writer Daniel Pearson is one of the not-so-bad guys. He’s actually a (mostly) moderate guy who wants to see the laws enforced, though perhaps less so when it comes to our immigration laws and serious criminal laws in general; you can’t endorse the George Soros-sponsored, criminal-loving and police hating District Attorney Larry Krasner and be too serious about law enforcement!

But, a commuter using the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA, himself, he sure wants to see a crackdown on the turnstile jumpers and fare evaders! I guess that’s something.

SEPTA’s fare evasion crackdown is no joke. Ask the more than 3,200 people criminally charged this year.

SEPTA says far too many Philadelphians aren’t paying to ride the transit system. It costs the agency about $50 million yearly in lost revenue.

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He threw his life away

Miles Pfeffer after being apprehended, with a “What the f(ornicate) did I do?” look on his face.

Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away. — Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen/

Young Miles Pfeffer, a privileged punk kid and previously adjudicated delinquent who had been ‘sentenced’ to a whopping one month of probation, decided to go into Philadelphia for some harmless fun, jacking cars and petty theft. No big deal, right, just some harmless teenaged fun, right? After all, he was still a senior in high school, and what high school kid hasn’t gotten into a little trouble, right?

Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County man who killed a Temple police officer, found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy! Gangland killing over an Instagram post

Kaleem Naseer Roland, mugshot via Pottsville Mercury.

Our good friends at The Philadelphia Inquirer have been doing a series on criminal justice where juveniles are concerned. Part 1 was An outlier on juvenile incarceration, noting that Philly locks up juvies at a rate much higher than other cities, Part 2 is Reforms promised, then abandoned, Part 3 is Womb-to-prison pipeline, noting the not-surprising-at-all fact that kids who bounce around in foster care are far more likely to wind up in jail, and today’s Tracking Teens: Philly is monitoring more kids by GPS than ever.

Well, perhaps, just perhaps, kids in the Philly region really are more likely to be bad kids.

Teen charged with murder in death of Norristown man allegedly linked to a gang feud

Kaleem Naseer Roland is accused of gunning down Tahaj Andru “Pooh” Harrison on May 23. Two other suspects are being sought.

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You in not that big a heap o’ trouble, boy!

Stephen Jones, photo via Facebook, under Section 27A of the Copyright Act.

Normally my crime articles go under the heading “You in a heap o’ trouble, boy,” or sometimes “girl,” in homage to that iconic southern expression, but, alas!, Mr Stephen Jones, formerly Democratic Leader of Philadelphia’s 59th Ward, is in far less of a heap o’ trouble than he should be for his offense.

I guess that he has friends in high places!

Philly ward leader convicted of sexually assaulting his granddaughter is sentenced to about a month in jail

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To the surprise of no one, The Philadelphia Inquirer again endorses softer-than-Charmin-on-crime Larry Krasner Virtually nothing they wrote has to do with actual crime on the city's streets

Philadelphia Police Officers and FOP members block District Attorney Larry Krasner from entering the hospital to meet with slain Police Corporal James O’Connor’s family, because it was the District Attorney who had not kept Cpl. O’Connor’s killer in jail when he could have.

I wrote, on May Day, that I would be “completely unsurprised if The Philadelphia Inquirer in general, and far-left columnist Will Bunch individually endorse(d)” the city’s George Soros-sponsored, police-hating and criminal-loving District Attorney, Larry Krasner, for re-nomination. Well, I am completely unsurprised! Continue reading

You in a heap o’ trouble, girl!

Our nation’s public school teachers are supposed to be intelligent and reasonably well educated. They are required to have baccalaureate degrees, and the vast majority of systems require teachers to obtain their master’s within about five years or so. Oddly enough, when I went to high school, back in the days of inkwells and quill pens, we had exactly one teacher who had his masters, yet I’d argue that we emerged from high school far better educated than what our public schools are producing today.

So, the obvious question is: why are so many of them so boneheadedly stupid?

Conestoga High School teacher facing 63 charges for allegedly having sex with student

Michelle Mercogliano, a special education teacher at Conestoga High School, was charged by the Tredyffrin Township police.

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy!

As Leroy Jethro Gibbs once said, on NCIS, when he was ‘questioning’ some young college kids, he “will not do well in prison.”

I have to admit, when I first saw this tweet from Steve Keeley of Fox 29 News, my first thought was, “This guy had to go after underaged girls?”

U.S. Marshals capture Pa. man accused of sexually assaulting underage girl in NJ

Shane Hennesy, 22, of Delaware County, Pa., is accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Pine Hill, New Jersey

By David Chang • Friday, April 25, 2025

The U.S. Marshals captured a Pennsylvania man who had been a fugitive for more than two months after he sexually assaulted an underage girl in New Jersey, officials said. Continue reading

Sometimes you just have to be an [insert slang term for the anus here] to do things right

The oh-so-noble idea behind welfare was the idea that down-on-their-luck people just need a helping hand to get themselves through a rough patch in their lives, to give them a chance to get back on their feet. The problem is that, behind that thinking, is the idea that everyone is actually willing to do the things to straighten out their lives. To the elites who have been putting together our welfare systems, the concept that some people would rather just do their own thing, not caring about getting their lives back in order as long as someone else was paying them to stay indolent was simply outside of their conceptual framework. Continue reading

Could Daniel Pearson be a conservative? Are there any moderate Democrats left?

Is a member of the Right Eing Extremists of the United States of America allowed to have a favorite liberal writer who I don’t use as a blog whipping boy? I have twice asked if The Philadelphia Inquirer’s primary editorial writer, Daniel Pearson, could actually be a conservative.

He knows that I have asked that question, and certainly denies it, definitely opposed to President Trump and most Republicans, but he is at least in some ways the kind of Democrat conservatives can appreciate. He’s certainly not a loony leftist like his colleagues Will Bunch and the rest of the newspaper’s cabal of columnists! While he seems to support some silliness like the city’s silly driving while black driving equality law, he does support the enforcement of law.

Fake, expired, and obscured car tags threaten public safety | Editorial

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