A 70-year-old grandmother took her safety upon herself and shot an intruder when he broke into her Philadelphia home. Maxine Thompson said the only thing going through her mind was self-preservation: “Kill him before he kills me.”
The entire incident began as Thompson slept in her home. She was awoken at 4:30 am to the sound of someone breaking into her house. “First I thought I was dreaming, and then I looked out the window, outside. I was still hearing the banging, banging, banging, so I yelled to whoever, ‘Who’s that on my door? Get off my door, get off my door,’” Thompson recalled.
Police confirmed Thompson’s recollection, as Fox News reported that a 43-year-old man did try to force his way into her house at that time.
Despite her verbal warnings, the alleged burglar didn’t stop and continued to smash her dining room window and enter her house. Thompson, going into survival mode, grabbed her late mother’s handgun and shot at the suspect. She told Fox 29 it was her first time using the gun. “I shot at him. He turned around and he ran and when he ran, I ran down the steps behind him and shot at him some more,” Thompson recalled. “Kill him before he kills me. That’s what was going through my mind.”
The alleged burglar was struck while Thompson fired at him several times. He ran to a nearby car wash and called the police to report he’d been shot, Fox 29reported. He was arrested, taken to the hospital and treated for a gunshot wound to his upper arm.
Thompson, whose son is a Philadelphia police officer, said the incident played out within 10 minutes. She recalled how the suspect could have killed her if she didn’t fire the gun.
“After everything was over, then I did get a little shaky. He could’ve killed me,” the grandmother said. Thompson just hopes the intruder will think twice before attempting to violate other’s rights saying she hopes she taught him and other people a lesson. “Stay the hell out of people’s houses,” Thompson said.
As for her broken window, she replied: “I have people that will come and fix this. It’ll be fixed in no time.”
Yeah, keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Yeah, we’re goin’ to the Roadhouse
We’re gonna have a real
Good time
The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
Spending a week driving around a western state 1,700 miles from my stomping grounds in Pennsylvania provides a different perspective on the level of economic, social and political degradation impacting the country. With a daily commute along the crumbling, crummy, gridlocked deathtrap roadways into West Philadelphia, the squalor and decomposition of our civilization is self-evident.
I live in a corrupt state with the highest gasoline taxes, highest tolls, massively underfunded government pension liability, failing government run public schools, suburban sprawl dotted with ghost malls, vacant industrial parks, and urban ghetto shitholes plagued by drugs, murder, welfare mentality, excessive taxes, and left wing politicians.
Politically, the state is virtually split down the middle, with the urban enclaves of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh dominated by Democrats, rural areas dominated by Republicans, and suburbs capable of going either way – but leaning left. Trump won the state mostly due to the lack of enthusiasm for Hillary in Philly and Pittsburgh. If the Democrats weren’t so dysfunctional and beholden to the far left, a moderate Democrat would win the state easily.
The governor is a Democrat and the legislature is Republican controlled, so budgets are virtually impossible to pass, with the only predictable outcome being higher taxes, fees, tolls, and deferral of essential actions to address the billions in underfunded government pensions. The Federal prison has a wing just for corrupt PA politicians. At least life is predictable.
Living in the northwest suburbs, 30 miles from the City of Philadelphia, and commuting into the city on a daily basis for the last 12 years, has given me a good vantage point in assessing the state of the infrastructure, economic trends, and societal decay in my part of this exponentially delusional, debt dependent, chaotic country. The U.S. and my corner of PA. have supposedly been in the midst of an economic recovery for the last nine years.
The government data shows a declining unemployment rate, rising GDP, non-existent inflation, record corporate profits, low interest rates leading to a growing housing market, soaring consumer confidence, and a record high stock market. In the parlance of Jim Morrison, we’ve been at the Roadhouse having a real good time. We’re gonna need more than a beer to recover from the inevitable hangover.
My suburban slice of Montgomery County is prosperous and growing, based upon demographic and economic data produced by the government. The populace is mostly upper middle class white collar families. I’ve lived in the same house for 23 years, through the 2000 internet bust, the Greenspan created housing bubble, the 2008 Wall Street created financial implosion, and the supposed nine year economic recovery. Within three miles of my house we had two strip centers with 100% occupancy in 1995. For the last eight years one center has been 90% vacant and the other 50% vacant. Office buildings built in 2005 still have numerous vacancies. Entire 600,000 sq. ft. office parks remain unoccupied, except for weeds, rodents, mold and decay.
Grand government plans for new retail outlets never materialized. Numerous gas stations have been shuttered, rotting and weed infested testaments to better times. Numerous grocery stores, locally owned restaurants, and small businesses have gone belly up during these supposed good times. Imagine what will happen during the next official recession.
This Potemkin economic recovery is buttressed by unpayable debt, Federal Reserve easy money, fudged financial industry accounting, fake economic data, endemic political corruption, and a perpetual flow of propaganda from the corporate media spigot convincing the mathematically challenged masses all is well and going into debt to keep up with the Joneses is a brilliant strategy for success. If you ignore the fake news and false rhetoric from politicians, bankers and the media, you can see the continued economic deterioration with your own eyes and your own bank account.
You can tell what our society values and supports by observing your immediate surroundings. The only construction I see are new bank branches, new medical facilities, drug stores, new fast food joints (creating the need for new medical facilities), and new government buildings. The once teetering Wall Street banking industry is alive and well due to tens of trillions funneled their way by the Fed and feckless Washington political machine.
You can’t swing a dead homeless person without hitting a Too Big To Trust Wall Street bank branch. Why do we need these monuments to greed and hubris when you can make a deposit with your smartphone, pay your bills on-line, and use your debit or credit card for every transaction? It’s insane to waste money on thousands of branches. But, when you can get your money from the Fed for free, everything looks like a good investment.
The trillions flowing out of people’s bank accounts and into the coffers of the sick industry complex have enriched these corporations to such an extent; they feel the need to build palatial complexes and numerous outlets for their “legal” drug distribution. You know an industry is rolling in dough when they build high tech glass palaces with concierge service and upscale restaurants, to service sick people.
Those Obamacare premiums and insurance payments are going somewhere, and even after paying the corporate executives their obscene salaries and bonuses, there is plenty left over for the construction of medical Taj Mahals and lobbying corrupt slimy snakes in congress for more. Despite the extravagance of these medical facilities, the service still sucks, a Tylenol costs $25, the physicians are barely adequate, the mis-diagnosis rate is sky high, and the staff is surly and rude.
Local politicians build themselves new grand municipal buildings, even though there are vacant office buildings out the wazoo. New Social Security Administration buildings are constructed at an astounding pace, especially in the Democrat controlled urban ghettos. New Section 8 housing estates are built with union labor on the taxpayer dime. That is the common denominator in all the new building occurring in this country.
The funds for this frenzy of banking, sick care and government construction has materialized out of thin air by a privately owned banking cabal called the Federal Reserve in conspiracy with the Deep State. This entire engineered Potemkin recovery and building boom is built on a liquefying foundation of bad debt and lies. Let it roll, baby, roll.
My little piece of suburban paradise in this failing and falling empire of debt may be decaying slowly, but my daily commute into the putrid, dilapidated, crumbling ghetto killing field called Philadelphia is a different matter. This corrupt liberal bastion of unfunded government pensions, outrageously high taxes, overpriced union labor, criminal Democrat politicians, dreadful public schools, potholes that could swallow a small car, crumbling infrastructure, murder, mayhem, and an enslaved underclass of welfare dependent minorities, is much further along the track to collapse. This city has pockets of prosperity, but its death rattle is unmistakable. The decay is too far gone and debt too large to realistically reverse course, even if there was a will to do so – which there is not.
My week in Colorado further clarified my view the American empire is in decline, but it is a cascading decline with regions and cities at various stages of collapse. My relatively rural suburban enclave is probably fifty percent of the way there. Philadelphia is eighty percent of the way there. Colorado only appears to be twenty five percent of the way there. I would ponder much of the western U.S., excluding the liberal bastions in California and Washington State, is also further from collapse than the heavily urbanized debt burdened northeastern U.S.
Driving up I-25 to Fort Collins, down to Colorado Springs and west to Boulder and Breckinridge, presented a fairly broad view of the greater Denver area. The most conspicuous aspect of Colorado, from my perspective, is the vast picturesque expanse of open space as far as the eye can see. Every direction seems to be framed by snow-capped Rocky Mountains. It’s the diametric opposite to my daily commute through the 30 Blocks of Squalor in West Philly.
The beauty of the Colorado landscape is somewhat obscured by a seemingly never ending proliferation of retail malls along the entire expanse of I-25. They all look alike, bathed in a beige sandstone design. The malls are populated by the same national retail chains inhabiting the ghost malls on the east coast. They are still constructing new malls, something not done on the east coast for years.
It seems there are still a significant number of people with disposable income in Colorado. Their labor participation rate has actually increased as their unemployment rate has fallen. The plunge in the participation rate has produced fake unemployment levels on the east coast. From that perspective Colorado is in better shape than most of the country.
You can’t help but notice the weed dispensaries sprinkled across the countryside. The legalization of marijuana has certainly had a short term economic benefit, as it has generated jobs and a massive inflow of tax revenue into government coffers. The longer term negative impact is revealing itself by the inordinate amount of homeless addicts in downtown Denver, at interstate off-ramps, under bridge overpasses in Boulder, and loitering in public parks in college towns like Fort Collins. The seeds of collapse are already planted. The influx of liberals fleeing California and the east coast are already indoctrinating a formerly conservative self-reliant state with socialist, feminist, and nanny state philosophies. This was borne out by Hillary’s narrow victory in 2016.
The infrastructure is not in a state of disrepair. Instead of trash and garbage along its interstates, there are clean-up crews picking up tumbleweeds. Everything still has that new smell feel. You just don’t see dilapidated structures. There are no potholes. Stop lights always function. Traffic is heavy at peak times, but not gridlocked. With the best ski resorts, awe inspiring tourist attractions (Garden of the Gods, Red Rocks), the majestic Rockies, growing economy, lack of government pension liabilities, and the weed industry, Colorado will sustain itself far longer than the Democrat run putrefying urban ghettos on the east coast. Make no mistake, the American empire is in the midst of a cascading collapse, and it will reach Colorado eventually.
If ever the lyrics “The future’s uncertain and the end is always near” were more applicable, it would be this past week. The stock market plunged by almost 1,300 points (no tweets from Trump taking credit), Trump accelerated his trade war with the world, he replaced a warmongering general with a warmongering neocon psychopath, the first quarter GDP estimate continued to decline to below 2%, a bunch of useful idiots were manipulated by Soros, Bloomberg and other liberal billionaires to protest against their own rights, and Trump topped it off by stabbing his supporters in the back by signing a bloated Democrat/RINO $1.3 trillion spending bill funding left wing priorities while ignoring everything he supposedly stands for. The Deep State either has pictures, or he is just a wolf in sheep’s clothing with no moral compass or desire to fulfill the agenda he ran on. It was a profoundly disappointing week for Trump supporters, even as the financial markets and economy show unequivocal cracks.
As we enter the second half of this Fourth Turning, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the specific events which will propel us towards its climax. We do know the events will be driven by the three catalysts of debt, civic decay, and global disorder. We’ve breached the $21 trillion national debt level, with Trump’s new budget poised to blast through $22 trillion in less than a year. The $200 trillion of unfunded liabilities looms in the foreseeable future. Corporate debt stands at an all-time high. Consumer debt stands at an all-time high. Global debt approaches $200 trillion. The coming financial dislocation will blow this powder keg of debt sky high. Matches are being lit on a daily basis.
Civic decay accelerates as gun grabbing left wing billionaires attempt to disarm the deplorables before the real conflict arrives. The Deep State wages war against the insurrection within their swamp. Surveillance agencies commit acts of treason. The Constitution is shit upon by those in power. An ongoing coup against the sitting president proceeds unabated. The citizens are treated as sheep being led to slaughter.
The few critical thinking dissenters are treated as criminals for exercising their First Amendment rights. The social media conglomerates, acting as the eyes and ears of the Deep State, lure the masses into willingly sacrificing their private information. There will be no compromise. The animosity between right and left has reached civil war levels. There is no middle. This will be a fight to the finish.
Trump has surrounded himself with neo-con war mongering philistines, while provoking nuclear powers, and embroiling our military in unwinnable conflicts across the Middle East. Trade wars, whether warranted or not, will ratchet up the intensity and antagonism. The Muslim hordes invading Europe are already provoking a political uprising across the continent. The North Korea problem is far from solved. Politicians across the globe facing unsolvable domestic issues will turn to foreign conflict as a way to distract the masses. Once the Rubicon is crossed the law of unintended consequences will rear its ugly head. The future of humanity hinges on the push of a button. Do you trust the current lot of feeble minded sociopaths to do the right thing?
The future may be uncertain but the end is always near. Within the next decade the future will be revealed. I believe we are headed for harder times. There is no going back to better days. Trump is the catalyst for conflict, both domestic and international. He will not save this nation. It will be up to individuals across the land. It’s time to mentally, physically, and financially prepare for the bitter winter ahead. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel. In the meantime, follow Jim Morrison’s advice and get yourself a beer.
A school district tried to prosecute a Pennsylvania mom because her son’s health problems kept him from attending school – and the school didn’t back down until an attorney got involved.
The controversy began when Leslie Sacks’ son entered high school and began having anxiety attacks. The mom kept him home “numerous days” while she “searched for a doctor who could help,” according to the Home School Legal Defense Association’s Darren Jones, who represented Sacks.
She finally found an “out-of-state specialist who put her son on a long-term medical protocol” and who noted that the boy’s health problems were exacerbated by being in large groups. The high school’s special education department was unwilling to help. So, she decided to homeschool him.
“Unfortunately, by this time, her son had missed several days that the school claimed were ‘unexcused,’ and the school charged him with ‘Violation of Compulsory School Attendance,’” Jones wrote. “For three weeks, the school also began robo-calling every day at 10:02 a.m. to inform Leslie that her son was illegally out of school.”
The case ended up in court, where Sacks fortunately found a sympathetic judge.
“So between the judge, the school, Leslie, and me, we worked out a deal that we thought was best for everyone,” Jones wrote. “Leslie would continue homeschooling her son, who was already making very good academic and physical progress at home. Once she finished out the year, she would let the school district know she was done, and they would pass that information on to the judge, who would dismiss the case. The judge didn’t put any other requirements on Leslie at all.”
What is your reaction? Share your thoughts in the section below:
After police sicced their K9 on a non-violent man, who was not resisting, and actually handcuffed, they were found justified as the taxpayers shell out $250,000.
The deep state’s plan to oust president Donald Trump is well underway and has been since it became clear that Mueller’s “Russian meddling” investigation was going to yield nothing. The “Stable Genius Act” introduced by a Pennsylvania lawmaker is one more step toward Trump’s removal.
Representative Brendan Boyle has introduced a new bill requiring presidential candidates to undergo full medical exams and release the results to the public. Boyle’s “Stable Genius Act” comes almost a week after President Donald Trump responded to claims made in a new book, which raises questions about the President’s mental stability.
Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence…..
….Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…..
The deep state is not going to give up easily and all signs are pointing to Roger Stone being correct. Roger Stone isn’t the first person to see Trump as a target of the deep state. Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has said he feels that the deep state isn’t afraid to nuke a city in the United States in order to kill Trump and blame North Korea for the result.
Boyle’s plan, however, is to simply rile up the masses. Hysteria is needed for “Plan B” to be effective. “Today, I introduced the Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection Act to ensure that Presidential candidates are fit to lead,” Boyle tweeted.
The President believes he is a "stable genius." I do not. Today, I introduced the
Standardizing Testing and Accountability Before Large Elections
Giving Electors Necessary Information for Unobstructed Selection
“So we’ll see an uptick in all of this ‘Trump is mentally imbalanced, Trump is insane, Trump must be removed,’” Stone warned. “Now you have to examine the extent to which they can whip up that hysteria as a backdrop because, without that hysteria, such a political move on the president will fail.” And once Plan B fails, the globalists will move on to Plan C, which is simply an assassination. -SHTFPlan
Are we watching Roger Stone’s assessment play out like a bad movie? It certainly feels that way…
Last night, authorities revealed that – contrary to initial reports that an object on the tracks might’ve caused the accident – Train 501 had been traveling 80 mph around a bend where the recommended speed was 30 mph. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether the engineer was distracted by another employee.
The excess speed is shown in this animated simulation released by ABC...
And, in another eerie clip, an NBC reporter covering the launch of the new high-speed train line has published footage recorded inside the train on the day of the accident. The reporter and his cameraman were spared when they got off at a stop just 10 minutes before the train tumbled onto Interstate I-5.
NEW: I shot this video on board the #Amtrak501 in the 6 o clock hour this morning. We got off after shooting the video. This specific car on the train derailed minutes after we shot this video. pic.twitter.com/3g25PvMAMe
The reporter later tweeted that he interviewed the same passenger both on the train and later in the hospital, where he was being treated for a broken back.
Just last month, the NTSB reported that Amtrak had a “weak safety culture,” according to the New York Times. That conclusion stemmed from the fatal accident outside Philadelphia in 2016 that killed eight people and seriously injured dozens more.
During a Tuesday news conference held by the NTSB, a member of the board said that a newer safety system was not in place during the deadly train crash near Seattle because of a Congressional extension.
Bella Dinh-Zarr spoke during a Tuesday news conference about the Monday derailment that killed at least three people, saying that Positive Train Control technology, which was mandated by a 2008 law and is supposed to prevent train-to-train collisions as well as slow and stop trains, was not yet installed on the train line.
There were plans to install the PTC system for the train, which had another safety system in place, but Congress extended a 2015 deadline to be met by the end of 2018, she said.
Sound Transit said Tuesday that the company was on track to have the system installed ahead of a December 2018 federal deadline, according to the local NBC affiliate.
To be sure, it clearly wasn’t installed quickly enough. What’s worse, the circumstances of the crash mirror those of the 2016 crash. In that instance, the train was traveling at 100 mph when it entered a bend in the track, and quickly derailed.
The Pennsylvania State Police bomb squad was called after an armor-piercing tank round was found by a jogger. The bomb squad was able to confirm the object was a Sabot projectile.
The jogger who saw the projectile flagged down police at about 1:30 pm on Sunday afternoon to report the finding of the strange object. It was found along the banks of the Susquehanna River in an area called Front Street River Walk in Harrisburg. “Officers identified the object as a possible tank Sabot projectile,” a police spokesman said. “The area was secured and notification to the Pennsylvania State Police Bomb Squad was made.”
Police also used a bomb K9 to make sure there were no other explosives in the area. Harrisburg Police issued the following statement about the incident:
“On 10/22/17 at 1325 hours, Harrisburg Police were flagged down by a jogger on the Front Street River Walk at Peffer Street. The jogger advised the officer of a strange object in the river bank. Officers identified the object as a possible tank Sabot projectile. The area was secured and notification to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Bomb Squad was made.
At 1531 hours, PSP bomb technicians arrived and confirmed that the object was a Sabot projectile. The projectile was collected and taken into custody by PSP. An HPD bomb K-9 was summoned after the projectile was secured to verify that there were no other explosives in the area. No other objects were found.
This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Harrisburg Police or submit information through our Crime Watch Portal.”
The authorities have said that they are continuing to investigate this incident.
People from worldwide are converging on Southern Illinois today to witness a total eclipse of the sun. I will be among that crowd.
We booked our hotel late, as in a couple months ago. The closest, in fact, the only room we could find was at a Best Western in Paducah, Kentucky, for nearly $400 a night.
Every hotel in Southern Illinois was booked solid. Carbondale, Illinois, home of Southern Illinois University is one of the big beneficiaries.
This roughly 25,000-person college town in southern Illinois will become shrouded in total darkness for as long as two minutes and 40 seconds during Monday’s solar eclipse, longer than almost any other location in the country.
But for Carbondale city administrators who have been preparing for the phenomenon since last summer, the eclipse is as much an opportunity to boost the city’s faltering university-based economy as it is a chance to view a cosmic light show.
Carbondale’s population is expected to double Monday as astronomers, NASA scientists, curiosity-seekers, students of all ages and international media trek here for an event that could generate $8 million in local economic activity, according to city estimates. Carbondale businesses generate about $600 million annually in economic activity, according to the city.
The town’s moment in the blocked-out sun couldn’t come at a better time.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the city’s largest employer, has seen funding delays in recent years as a result of a record-breaking state budget stalemate in Springfield.
Carbondale normally relies on each student to generate $10,000 annually in local economic activity, said Mayor John “Mike” Henry, but dwindling student enrollment has cost the city about $50 million a year. Drugs and crime in pockets of the community have stretched local police and social services.
“Right at the beginning, we said, ‘We cannot fail at this,’” Mr. Henry said. “We’re going to overplan. We’re going to overspend. We’re going to do everything possible so that every single person has the best experience that they can have.”
Mr. Henry expedited the first phase of an expansive downtown-revitalization effort, spending about $1.75 million to tear up sidewalks, unify the streetscape, update public parking and improve street lighting.
Best Experience
In an effort to produce the “best experience” for everyone I can tell you the police were out en masse. I have never seen so many Illinois state troopers in my entire life.
In one 20 mile stretch on I-24 between the I-57/I-24 junction and Paducah, we saw seven unmarked cars with drivers pulled over. How many cars still in hiding is unknown.
This is big business for sure. Police and hotels shared the wealth. What effect this has on future Illinois tourism remains to be seen. But like world fairs and Olympics, I expect the benefits to be muted, if not negative, in relation to the amount of money spent in preparation.
Mish Setup
That is an EOS 5D Mark IV with a Canon 100-400mm L lens. Here is my Equipment List.
I grabbed the shot of part of my eclipse setup moments ago. The above image is not color corrected or sharpened in my typical fashion. I decided at the last-minute to do this article.
I have two cameras, two tripods, and computer-controlled software to fire my camera at the right time (hopefully), based on GPS positioning or longitude, latitude, and altitude at a site I selected on Sunday at Fern Cliffe State Park in Goreville, Illinois.
Note the black tape on the focusing ring. A few nights ago I focused on the full moon and taped the focusing ring in place. I am using mirror lockup to damp camera vibrations and will be bracketing like mad.
I have two cables from my camera to a computer via a USB to Com port setup to trigger shots at specified ISOs and shutter speeds, all programmed in advance, based on research of likely exposures needed. One cable fires the shutter, the other controls ISO and exposure.
I spent at least 60 hours testing my script and getting everything to run.
Minor League vs Major League
If that seems like a massive amount of work, I would agree. But I will also tell you it is minor league.
I believe that attached to their massive telescope setup is the same lens and camera I am using. As in attached, I mean physically attached. When the telescope moves so does the Canon camera.
They have six hands to make last second adjustments. They also have tracking mounts that automatically move at the speed the sun is moving in the sky.
People come from all over the world thinking they will get good images. Realistically, they do not have a chance.
I hope to get one reasonable image. I may devote one camera to video. I still have not decided. If I do, the video will be wide angle because the sun is so high in the sky for this eclipse.
This entire exercise may be for naught, for everyone. Clouds can ruin everything. Even if it is sunny there are a thousand other things that can easily go wrong.
However, I found what I think is the perfect spot. I will be there at 7:00 AM or so to claim it.
Wish me luck. I will post results – what went right – and wrong within a few days or so. NASA will be much faster, I am sure.
A Marxist student group at Swarthmore College disbanded itself earlier this year after realizing that its members were too rich and too white to be real commies.
According to screenshots confidentially provided to Campus Reform by an individual with access to the group’s private Facebook page, the demise of the Swarthmore Anti-Capitalist Collective (SACC) came in the wake of a farewell letter from a member who had decided the group could never be an effective proponent of “unproblematized anticapitalist politics” due to its “history of abuse, racism, and even classism.”
“From my understanding SACC disbanded because they realized the makeup and tactics of their group was at odds with their espoused principles,” Swarthmore Conservative Society President Gilbert Guerra told Campus Reform.
“Their main support base was middle-upper class white kids who enjoy jogging.”
The farewell letter corroborates Guerra’s understanding, asserting that “SACC’s fundamental failure” was that “at its formation, it was made up of entirely white, with the exception of one person of color*, students,” and to make matters worse, “not one of [the founding members] are from low-income and/or working class backgrounds.”
Arguing that “low-income people of color should never be an afterthought in a group whose politics supposedly focus on their liberation,” the author then went on to accuse SACC of having a “history of abuse, racism, and even classism that was never adequately addressed or recognized despite constantly being brought up as an issue.”
The screenshots provided to Campus Reform do not include dates, but the SACC Facebook page suggests that the group may have folded at some point in late-March or April. The page has seen no activity since March 26, prior to which posts had been added on a fairly regular basis.
Campus Reform reached out to other former SACC members for their take on the group’s disbandment, but none were willing to comment.
Guerra agreed strongly with the letter-writer’s assessment that SACC was ineffective, telling Campus Reform that “SACC didn’t do anything noteworthy during their existence,” and had little impact on campus discourse.
“If anything,” he said, “I think the legacy of that particular group will turn out to be motivating some apathetic students to become involved in the Conservative Society.”
As for the future of Marxist groups on campus - which the SACC letter optimistically predicted would provide a “future for anti-capitalist organizing on this campus” - Guerra said that he expects there will be a “new Maoist group on campus in the fall,” but didn’t seem terribly concerned about its prospects.
Saying that such a group is “a foregone conclusion” because there are many leftist students at Swarthmore who want to actively “resist during the Trump Presidency,” Guerra noted that the only question now “is whether this new group will be any more sustainable that [sic] the past couple of leftist groups that have splintered and fizzled out.”
Wildwood, PA – A video posted on Facebook of a cop ‘sucker punching’ a man before handcuffing him has caused outrage in the community and prompted an investigation by Cape May County prosecutors.
Citizens Against Abusive Power Systems (CAAPS) uploaded the video Monday afternoon, saying the incident occurred June 18. The officer and the man arrested have not been publicly identified.
Wildwood Police Chief Robert Regalbuto told local NBC10 the man was suspected in a “disorderly persons complaint” and says we don’t know what happened beforehand. However, during the video we can plainly see that the man was simply standing there, when the cop suddenly punches the man in the face like a schoolyard bully.
It seems impossible to conclude that this is normal protocol in dealing with a suspect in a minor complaint. Even if the man was belligerent and insulting, cops are supposed to apply de-escalation tactics in order to reduce the likelihood of violence.
The department gave no other details, including what led to the arrest. Meanwhile, this officer is still on duty despite his clear proclivity for violence.
CAAPS is asking that anyone with more information come forward “so we can get this officer off the street.” The non-profit group based in Clifton Heights, PA “investigates, exploits, and fights corruption and abuse, and provides support services to victims of abuse,” according to their homepage.
June 18, wildwood police at Roberts & NJ punch a civilian. Anyone know anything so we can get this officer off the street? pic.twitter.com/2NSh1v7TFZ
As more and more examples of police brutality are exposed – such as suddenly punching a man in the face and knocking him to the ground – it begs the question of what gets these cops into a state of mind where violence is their first response?
READ MORE:Another "Isolated Incident" Caught on Video of Police Beating a Handcuffed Man
A study published June 19 provides scientific evidence that cops with low self-control in their personal lives “are more likely to use deadly force on the job.”
“Researchers measured self-control based on eight indicators including whether the officer had financial problems or had been in a car accident. Each indicator increased the likelihood of an officer’s involvement in a shooting by 21 percent, according to the research…
Officers were more likely to be involved in deadly shootings if they scored lower in self-control based on the following factors: a history of a suspended driver’s license, involvement in a motor vehicle accident, had ever been behind on paying bills, had loans or debts over $1,000, been under any type of court order, been divorced or separated or received a traffic ticket in the past five years.”
This study only looked at deadly shootings. It would be interesting, and likely quite revealing, if we could also analyze the data with respect to all cases of police brutality. Who knows how many of the eight indicators were present in the aforementioned cop who sucker punched a man before handcuffing him?
“What we see in criminology more generally is that a pattern of indicators tends to raise more of a yellow flag but not necessarily a red flag,” said co-author Dr. Alex Piquero. “But police departments can and should develop and employ screening devices to help them identify applicants who may need more additional vetting as well as continue to monitor their officers’ behavior and provide additional screening and training over the course of the officers’ careers. Done well, this should help departments recruit and retain the best officers who can work with the community to keep our cities safe.”
READ MORE:Dashcam Video Shows Cop Attack a Terrified Sick Woman and Drag Her from the Car
Sadly, this advice is not likely to be taken seriously by many police departments. While there are ‘good cops’ who do everything they can to de-escalate and avoid violence, far too often we see violent, authoritarian behavior from cops, which results in innocent lives being lost and families shattered.
Parents-to-be beware: If you live in 10 of Pennsylvania’s most heavily fracked counties, your baby has a 29-percent greater risk of dying within the first 0 – 28 days of birth, than if you live elsewhere.
An epidemiological study published recently in the Journal of Environmental Protection revealed for the first time that fracking kills babies. The study examined early infant deaths 0-28 days before and after the drilling of fracking wells, using official data from the U.S. Centre for Disease Control to compare the immediate post-fracking four-year period (2007-2010) with the pre-fracking four-year period (2003-2006). According to the study:
There were about 50 more babies died in these 10 counties than would have been predicted if the rate had been the same over the period as all of Pennsylvania, where the incidence rate fell over the same period.
Think it’s about time to ban fracking? Or at the very least, regulate the chemicals that fracking dumps into local waterways? Sadly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still protecting the frackers—not the babies.
The manhunt for Facebook killer Steve Stephens is over in what is may be the most fitting end.
Steve Stephens, the suspect in the Cleveland, Ohio, Facebook killing, shot and killed himself after a brief police pursuit in Erie County, Pennsylvania, this morning, the Pennsylvania State Police said.
Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself.
Stephens was found dead of self-inflicted gunshot wound in white Ford Fusion on Buffalo Road,. State police had been following the car as it was headed west into the city of Erie. Yesterday, there were reports that Stephens was spotted in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park area, but police said the reports were unsubstantiated.
Authorities had issued a warrant for Stephens’ arrest, and offered up to $50,000 for information leading to his capture.
According to GoErie.com, Erie police have confirmed the suicide in Erie on Tuesday of Steve Stephens, the Cleveland resident suspected of fatally shooting a Cleveland man on Sunday and posting video of the slaying on Facebook.
Stephens died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while driving a white Ford Fusion near Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue around 11:10 a.m., police said.
State police were following the car as it headed west into Erie, according to dispatchers.
The car, pointed west, is stopped in the westbound lane of Buffalo Road, across from the former Burton Elementary School, 1660 Buffalo Road. Police are blocking off the entire school grounds. Erie police are also at the scene.
As shown in the clip below, Erie police are at the scene, with Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook and the FBI and Erie County District Attorney Jack Daneri. Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott said early Tuesday afternoon that he did not have much information about the incident, but he expected to be briefed later in the day by Police Chief Don Dacus. “Obviously when you’ve got a fugitive out there, you’re pleased to see it come to some quick resolution,” Sinnott said.
An aggravated murder warrant was issued for Stephens" arrest early Monday because police believed he may have fled Ohio.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf tweeted his thanks to the Pennsylvania State Police for their vigilance.
Thank you to the brave @PAStatePolice troopers for their vigilance in pursuing the Facebook killer. Thankful no one in PA was hurt. https://t.co/GN5i6jkcuI
State senators in Pennsylvania introduced a bill to eliminate the philosophical exemption for vaccines. If passed, only the medical and religious exemptions would remain.
The bill, SB 217, was introduced by Democratic Senator Daylin Leach and was co-sponsored by Leach noted in a January 9 memo that “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the nation.” In 2015, 87% of kindergarteners were identified as vaccinated, with the percentage jumping to 96% among seventh-grade students. The vaccination rate sought by most health experts is 95%.
In light of those claims, an October 2016 report revealed that incoming kindergarten students were being vaccinated at a rate close to, or sometimes surpassing, the national average. The report also stated that “an estimated 2.2 percent of kindergarteners were exempt, with the largest percentage of those children claiming a nonmedical exemption. About 45 percent of exempt children had a philosophic reason for not vaccinating, while 39 percent reported a religious reason and only 16 percent reported a medical exemption.”
Leach explained in his memo that “my bill will eliminate only the exemption for ‘a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief.’ Based on statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the 2013-14 school year, 2,988 students received the religious exemption, while 3,394 received the philosophical exemption. Thus, my bill would reduce, by more than half, the number of children not vaccinated in Pennsylvania for non-medical reasons.”
Pennsylvania is among 18 states that uphold a philosophical exemption for administering vaccines. Two similar, unsuccessful proposals were brought to the legislature in 2015, following an outbreak of measles that occurred at Disneyland, with one case of measles reported to have spread to the state from that outbreak.
The measles outbreak rooted at Disneyland briefly renewed a national debate regarding mandatory vaccinations, particularly due to the fact that a number of measles cases were inflicted on a small percentage of individuals who had received the measles vaccine. It was argued that the overall threshold to achieve “herd immunity” was inferior.
There were also reports calling attention to people who had received vaccines in previous years before more robust vaccination policies requiring more doses were implemented. In April 2015, it was reported by health officials that the “Disneyland Outbreak” had waned and new cases linked to the outbreak ceased; following this report, plans to call for votes on these bills had halted.
A recent outbreak of mumps at Pennsylvania State University may intensify pressure on the legislature to pass this bill; so far, 12 cases have been confirmed out of 36 “probable cases.” The university has begun providing “third doses of vaccine to students they believe are at higher risk.”
The current Senate bill’s has been referred to the state’s Senate Committee on Education.
The United States was once a projected leader in the nuclear energy race. In the 20th century, the world dreamed of finding a way to provide safe, cheap, and renewable energy, and nuclear power seemed to be the manifestation of those dreams. All of this, however, seems to be coming to an end.
This past week, Toshiba decided to sell its American nuclear power subsidiary at a $6 billion loss. Westinghouse Electric Company, an American company that Toshiba acquired 10 years ago, is in the business of building and constructing nuclear power facilities. This isn’t the first time that Toshiba attempted to offload controlling interest in Westinghouse – all previous efforts, however, have failed.
Many reasons have been cited for this sell-off. Firstly, demand for electricity has been slowing down as of late. Secondly, natural-gas prices have been declining, making it harder to justify the measures necessary to make nuclear power work – one of the primary motivators for these projects was the increasingly high cost of natural-gas. Finally, integration of renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar) have been becoming more prevalent. Again, this makes it harder to justify nuclear energy projects.
However, the biggest barrier to entry for nuclear energy providers is the trade-off between safety and cost. The production of this type of energy can be fast and cheap, but not if companies comply fully with the U.S. nuclear regulatory body. Nuclear energy in America is simply becoming an uneconomic option.
This is problematic on the global scene for a variety of reasons, chief of which is safety standards. The U.S. remains the exemplary model to follow when it comes to regulation of new technologies. If nuclear power in America slows down substantially, the influence the U.S. has over global safety standards wanes, and the world becomes less willing to comply with basic guidelines. Without that scale of market presence from the U.S., the industry can suffer.
This slowdown from the U.S. may be advantageous for state-owned nuclear facilities. Without America as an example, Russia, parts of Asia, and the Middle East become the example to follow – their lack of standards and regulation would be to the benefit of nuclear facilities owned by governments.
However, many privately owned nuclear facilities simply do not have the capital to sustain these plants, even when the government helps subsidize their operations. This is evidenced by Toshiba’s termination of their Westinghouse project. Projects on the private side take much longer to complete, so that safety concerns change along the way, locking them into a cycle of never ending regulation updates.
In the last 20 years, the U.S. has seen only one new nuclear reactor that is functional, constructed by a government entity – the Tennessee Valley Authority. Further, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shows that there are only four reactors currently under construction in the entire country. Two would be at the Alvin W. Vogtle station in Georgia, and two at the Virgil C. Summer plant in South Carolina.
These projects are implementing reactors manufactured by Westinghouse. Construction on all four are currently delayed over three years and are billions over-budget. Westinghouse itself was one of the last private companies to be commissioned for the manufacture of nuclear reactors – before over-budget, inefficient projects such as these pushed them into ruin. Westinghouse has said that these four projects, as well as two more in China, will be completed. But it remains doubtful that the dozens of other projects it has been commissioned to complete – and yet to begin – will ever reach fruition.
An abandoned Walmart in Brownsville, Texas will soon be home to 100"s of illegal immigrant "minors", many of them late in their teen years, thanks to your federal tax dollars. According to a report from a local ABC affiliate in Brownsville, the facility is currently being converted into a shelter by a nonprofit organization called Southwest Key, which receives the majority of its funding from federal tax dollars via the Office of Refugees Resettlement.
A Southwest Key spokeswoman confirmed the facility is set to open on March. They said it’ll be to welcome unaccompanied minors who crossed into the U.S. illegally.
It will be the 4th facility in Brownsville to shelter children, under the age of 17, who have crossed into the U.S. without an adult.
Southwest Key is federally funded by the Office of Refugees Resettlement. The group’s mission is to provide a safe environment for unaccompanied children while they wait to be reunited with a sponsor or relative in the U.S.
Southwest Key officials said children are supervised during their stay. The program ensures youngsters have a safe place to sleep, are fed, educated and also have access to healthcare and counseling services.
Of course, the report drew a lot of criticism from local Brownsville residents, many of whom questioned whether the money shouldn"t be redirected to fund a shelter for veterans and/or the homeless.
As background, according to WND, Southwest Key has an annual budget of $150 million and operates 27 shelters for illegal immigrants in Texas, Arizona and California. Per the Southwest Key website:
Southwest Key Programs is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1987 to keep young people out of institutions and empower them with the skills, knowledge and tools they need to succeed. Through an exceptionally competent and diverse staff, Southwest Key empowers youth and their families to make positive changes in their lives including at our 27 immigrant children"s shelters in Texas, Arizona and California.
Southwest Key Unaccompanied Minor shelters operate as a self-contained unit, delivering shelter, food, healthcare, education, recreation, case management and legal services to the children in our care. We are required by the federal government to provide everything that a child needs in order to thrive in a humane and homelike environment. As a result, there is little interaction between the children in our services and the surrounding community, save for those businesses and employees engaged in their care on-site.
Healthcare: The overwhelming majority of medical services are done on site by Southwest Key’s fully-staffed, licensed medical professionals who ensure the health of the children in our shelters. Every child receives a full, medical exam by a doctor within 24 to 48 hours of entering our facilities, including receiving all the CDC recommended immunizations and being screened for any infectious diseases.
Education: While in our care, all unaccompanied minors receive educational services. Our presence in a community does not impact children in the local school system as our kids receive all educational services separate and distinct from local children and they never have an opportunity to interact with one another.
If Southwest Key sounds familiar, it"s probably because it"s the same Southwest Key that drew criticism from Senator Chuck Grassley back in 2014 for using taxpayer money to provide a petting zoo and guitar lessons to their illegal immigrant residents at a cost of over $300 per child per day. Per the Washington Times:
One of the contractors housing some of the surge of illegal immigrant children from this summer offers them a petting zoo with miniature ponies, a tilapia fish farm operation and guitar lessons, according to documents released Thursday by a senator who questioned whether the plush accommodations were a good use of taxpayers’ money.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, said it seemed excessive to pay the $329 that Southwest Key Programs, the contractor, charged per child per day at one of its California facilities in Lemon Grove, California. Another facility in El Cajon cost taxpayers $316 per child per day.
Here is the original report from KRGV-TV in Brownsville, TX:
Shameful! What’s going on? Why did her campaign announce its “intent to file for a recount of votes in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, leading a multi-partisan effort to check the accuracy of the machine-counted vote tallies in these states in order to ensure the integrity of our election?”
Did she forget Hillary criticizing Trump’s possible refusal to accept electoral results when asked, calling it “a direct threat to our democracy?”
Does she support what war goddess, racketeer, perjurer Hillary stands for? Does she oppose Trump wanting normalized relations with Russia – crucial to prevent the threat of possible nuclear war with Hillary empowered as US military commander-in-chief.
Many times in articles I called Hillary the most ruthlessly dangerous presidential aspirant in US history. Does Stein support her? Want the election reversed in her favor? Why else would she want recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin? Outrageous!
Interviewed by Sputnik News, she said she raised over $3.7 million dollars so far, aiming for up to $7 million to cover all costs, and complete the task by filing deadlines – Nov. 25 in Wisconsin, Nov. 28 in Pennsylvania, and Nov. 30 in Michigan.
A pre-Thanksgiving Day article asked if Hillary intended to challenge the electoral results. In my judgment, Trump won because deep state power brokers jettisoned her as damaged good, too scandal-ridden to serve effectively, choosing Trump instead.
Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night nor Stein’s misguided effort will change the electoral results – just stir the pot disruptively for some days, accomplishing nothing but shaming herself.
Claiming “we deserve some confidence in the outcome of this election” misses the crucial point. Hillary as president risks possible cataclysmic nuclear war with Russia.
Trump wants normalized ties, both countries cooperating in combating terrorism. That’s the core issue aside from all others – including the nonexistent integrity of America’s electoral system.
Failure to understand it shows poor judgment on Stein’s part at the least – recklessness at worst. And why did Sputnik News publicize her effort? Surely it knows Putin prefers Trump over Hillary. So do I.
Will recounts be held in the three states in question? Doubtful but we’ll see. Either way won’t matter. On January 20, Trump’s inauguration will proceed as scheduled.
Stein’s largely Soros funded ill-conceived scheme to undermine Trump’s triumph for Hillary is heading toward failure as expected.
Days earlier, a Wisconsin judge ruled against her hand recount request. She alleged state voting machines may have been hacked, despite no evidence suggesting it.
Her lawsuit to force a hand recount fell flat. Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Mike Haas said state voting machines are federally certified and field tested for accuracy.
On December 1, Pennsylvania Judge Bernard A. Moore dismissed recount petitions of voters in 78 precincts because no evidence suggests they’re warranted.
According to the Montgomery County Times Herald, elections board solicitor Nicole Forzato said “Montgomery County takes great, great pride in being concerned about its infrastructure for IT generally, and they have gone through a vigorous process to make sure our technology general, including voter services technology and the voting machines are safe and secure to use.”
Forzato stressed no evidence suggests voting machines were hacked or otherwise tampered with – nor were Stein’s recount petitions correctly filed along with proper fees paid.
While admitting no evidence of fraud, Stein hasn’t so far ended her recount scam. It’s being judicially ended for her.
After police sicced their K9 on a non-violent man, who was not resisting, and actually handcuffed, they were found justified as the taxpayers shell out $250,000.
