A FIERCE BATTLE BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND RUSSIAN FORCES REDUCED BORODYANKA TO RUBBLE

Heroes of Borodyanka: How a small town armed only with rifles took on Russian TANKS

A new report of incredible bravery tells the story of Borodyanka, a small town near Kyiv, that came under assault from Russian tanks and planes 

 

By Srivats Lakshman
 

 

meaww

Apr 7, 2022

Drone footage shows a path of destruction in the wake of a fierce battle between residents and Russian forces in Borodyanka, Ukraine

 

When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his "special military operation" on February 24, Ukraine quickly got ready to face the offensive. Thousands signed up for the Territorial Defense Forces, while thousands of others began the long and exhausting journey out of Ukraine to neighboring EU nations. Cities quickly witnessed destruction and devastation on a scale last seen in World War 2, but that didn't stop the Ukrainians from putting up a valiant fight.

Over a month in, the trail of blood and violence has become a daily news item. We've seen examples of Russian war crimes from the city of Bucha, and that's not even the entire story. Routine Russian bombardment has leveled schools, apartment blocks, and even hospitals. Amongst them was a maternity hospital in Mariupol, hit on March 9. Cities like Kherson, Mariupol, and Odesa are amongst the worst-hit, but so is Borodyanka.

The small town close to Ukraine's capital of Kyiv may not have made the headlines as much as Odesa or Mariupol, but a new report from the city shows it suffered as badly if not worse from the Russian invasion. On April 6, The Daily Mail showed what remained of Borodyanka, as well as a look at how the residents attempted to hold off Russia's army, despite not having much military experience. 

 

Residents threw a heap of Molotov cocktails onto Russian vehicles

 

The remains of an apartment block after Russia's assault on Borodyanka, Ukraine

 

Residents in Borodyanka, Ukraine claim Russian APCs fired onto multiple buildings

 

Russian forces destroyed residential buildings in Borodyanka, Ukraine

 

Civilian casualties are believed to be high after a series of Russian attacks in Borodyanka, Ukraine

 

The heroes of Borodyanka

Located around 31 miles from Kyiv, Borodyanka is a small urban settlement of around 13,000 people. it houses no Ukrainian military installations and is largely made up of residences and commercial buildings. The only issue? It was straight on the path from Belarus to Kyiv, and so came under intense attack. The residents were reportedly armed only with rifles, which they used to stall the Russian advance, but to little avail.

Intense bombardment from Russia's jets and tanks meant that the residents stood little chance, and within days the high street was quickly reduced to rubble. Within days of Russia's war, many fled the town, but thousands more stayed, only to be subjected to the brutality of Russia's soldiers. "In Bucha they killed people in the streets with guns. Here, it was by airplanes and bombing," said Anton Herashchenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Mail called it "the most intense urban devastation we have yet witnessed." Weeks after Russia leveled the town, hundreds are still trapped underneath the rubble, whether alive or dead, is a question that remains to be answered. "The damage is more intense than in Bucha," The Mail reported. As the Russians swept through the town, they reportedly took whatever they wanted, while arresting and beating anyone they wished to.

Ukrainians fear the war crimes committed could be worse than in Bucha, given the reports that Russians reportedly burnt the bodies to hide evidence. The residents may have failed to stall the Russian advance, but the Ukrainian army managed to liberate the town, as Russia opted to change its focus. Now the town remains largely deserted, barring those involved in clean-up operations, and a few survivors.

Even if the bodies are never found, the bombing of Borodyanka itself can be considered a war crime, as the BBC reported. However, with Russia vetoing any such action by the United Nations Security Council, justice for Borodyanka, Bucha, and other Ukrainian towns will remain elusive. 

THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS MADE NY A THIEF'S PARADISE

Big Apple shoplifting skyrockets 81% compared to last year

 

By Craig McCarthy and Gabrielle Fonrouge

 

New York Post

April 6, 2022

 

 

Theft of anything under $1,000 is considered a misdemeanor, which has led to crooks cleaning out stores

 

Merchandise at New York’s stores has been quite the steal.

Shoplifting complaints in the Big Apple have skyrocketed 81% this year compared to last as the city continues to reel from a crime surge that’s eclipsing pre-pandemic levels, data released Wednesday show. 

So far this year, there’s been more than 5,000 petty larceny, grand larceny and robbery complaints stemming from shoplifting incidents citywide, Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri said during a Wednesday crime statistics briefing. 

“We’ve seen an increase of 81% of shoplifting complaints that includes petty larceny, grand larcenies and robberies where individuals go in and continue to steal merchandise, and then are confronted by a worker and then they get assaulted,” LiPetri said.

That’s up from about 2,100 shoplifting complaints recorded during the same period last year when many New Yorkers were at home avoiding the post-holiday, winter COVID-19 surge. 

A video posted to TikTok shows a parade of people casually shoplifting from what appears to be a Rite Aid in Manhattan

 

One man could be seen in the video with a garbage bag full of items slung over his shoulder

 

Another smiled and waved at the security guard who filmed the scene as he passed by

 

Of those arrested for shoplifting related offenses over the past two years, 2,000 are recidivists who’ve been cuffed three or more times and 379 have been taken into custody three or more times for shoplifting crimes specifically, LiPetri said. 

Drug stores across the Big Apple have been reeling from a recent rash of thefts — some of which have turned violent.

 

A man shoplifting steaks from a Trader Joe’s store in Manhattan on February 8, 2022

 

A shoplifter brutally attacked a female store employee who confronted him for pilfering products from a freezer at a Morningside Heights Duane Reade in February, cops said previously. 

The man allegedly punched the 21-year-old worker in the face, grabbed her hair and threw her to the floor, police said. 

In late January, a man and woman snatched four packs of paper towels from the shelves at a Duane Reade on Park Avenue South near East 28th Street around 9:10 a.m., cops said. 

When a 43-year-old worker confronted the duo, the male suspect pulled a box cutter on her and snarled, “If you keep recording, I will hurt you,” police said.

The most bizarre theft came when a man dubbed the “Hamburglar” was spotted calmly walking out with an armful of roughly a dozen steaks from a Manhattan Trader Joe’s in February

NY DEMOCRATS: BROKEN WINDOWS WILL CAUSE THE SKY TO FALL

Spare us the faux outrage over Adams being the new Giuliani on crime — we should be so lucky! 

 

By Bob McManus

 

New York Post

April 6, 2022

 

 

Mayor Eric Adams is right to bring back the Giuliani-era "broken windows" policies to tackle New York City's horrible crime spike

 

The usual suspects say darkly that Mayor Eric Adams is Rudy Giuliani in disguise, and it is to laugh. Really, New York City should be so lucky.

The city’s progressive cabal and the usual media claque claim the rookie mayor’s unfolding public-safety policies amount to warmed-over Giuliani-era jackbootery that reinforces past failures and fuels present anger.

Oh? Which failures — and, really, what anger?

It seems that eight years of de Blasio dystopia isn’t enough for some people. They need a steady diet of preventable public disorder to be happy — and they mean to do everything they can to gin it up.

This explains the otherwise mystifying opposition to Adams’ ongoing cleanup of 250 or so vagrant villages around the five boroughs — filthy, rat-plagued disease vectors fashioned from cardboard and stolen plastic sheeting. Truly, people of conscience wouldn’t wish them on their worst enemies.

They were endemic when Giuliani became mayor in 1994 — but more or less disappeared shortly thereafter. There’s no mystery about what happened: Mayoral determination to be rid of them, combined with the introduction of humane and very expensive social-services alternatives, largely did the job.

It remains to be seen whether Adams can replicate that success — he’s certainly sailing into strong headwinds — but there doesn’t seem to be much doubt about one thing: He’s as morally offended by the hovels as Giuliani was a generation ago. And he seems determined to do something about them.

An NYPD officer speaks to a homeless man while authorities clear out a large campement site near Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan on April 6, 2022

“Mayor Adams has launched an offensive against New York City’s most vulnerable,” proclaimed the City Council’s progressive caucus. “This makes clear the mayor’s intention to return to the failed broken windows policies of the 1990s.”

“Back to the Giuliani era,” proclaimed one media headline. “Adams’ order to clear homeless camps ignites fury in New York.”

Yet the only fury placed in evidence in the accompanying story came from the council’s progressives and their allies, so the opposition to the mayor’s street cleanup seems — at best — to be circular.

Certainly polls show that New Yorkers in general aren’t the least bit angry with Adams’ efforts — quite the contrary. They’re terrified of crime, they hate disorder and they stand behind the mayor.

 

Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo, 61-years-old, was shot and killed by a stray bullet outside the Maysaa Fordham Deli in the Bronx on April 4, 2022

 

As for the claim that Adams is embracing “failed broken windows policies of the 1990s,” well, one can only hope. As public-safety policies go, they certainly got the job done: By now it’s a cliché, but New York truly did become America’s safest big city, and it remained so until everything began to unravel during the benighted de Blasio years.

There’s no disputing that Giuliani’s approach to public safety was forceful. But there were nearly 2,000 murders a year back then; crime was out of control and the city’s public spaces were overrun by addicts and the insane. Tough times called for tough policies.

Today’s challenges aren’t quite so daunting — not yet, anyway — but the trend lines are frightening and the institutional impediments to recovery are substantial.

There is the matter of Adams’ commitment and staying power. Yes, he ran on a pro-public-safety platform, and he says a lot of the right things. But some of his policies can best be described as half-measures — his anti-gun initiative comes to mind — and he’s given to walking back controversial statements. (One day he’s for quality-of-life policing, and the next maybe not so much.)

A true test of the man will come, inevitably, with his first violent police-public crisis. Until then, let’s just say that Eric Adams is an institutionally lonely man climbing a very tall mountain.

There is, for example, the City Council. Back in the day, the council comprised a couple of inspired leaders and a gaggle of amiable hacks — that is, it rarely got in the way.

Today the council is riddled with progressive termite tunnels; it seems truly dedicated to making matters worse — case in point being its idiotic objections to Adams’ vagrant crackdown.

Ditto the Albany establishment, well known for fueling New York’s current street-crime crisis with ill-considered penal-code “reforms.” Whether the modest rollbacks of those changes reported to be part of a pending state budget settlement will be sufficient is unclear — but probably not. Adams really shouldn’t hold his breath waiting to find out.

Now it becomes a matter of how willing New Yorkers are to share their public spaces with addicts and crazy people — and their streets with violent criminals.

They’ll have some say in the matter in the June 28 primary and again in November; until then, probably the best they can do is offer comfort and support to their new mayor.

He’s not Rudy Giuliani, but he’s headed in the right direction, and it’s hard to ask for more than that.

WITH THE DEMOCRATS IN POWER CRIMES KEEP RISING

Major crimes continue to soar in NYC despite return to ‘broken windows’ policing 

 

By Craig McCarthy and Gabrielle Fonrouge

 

New York Post

April 6, 2022

 

 

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced that major crimes in the city were up 37 percent in March

 

Serious crime and shootings showed no sign of slowing down last month as new NYPD data show a 37 percent increase in major crimes citywide, numbers released Wednesday show. 

In the first 100 days of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, the tough-on-crime former police captain has touted the creation of a new anti-gun unit and a return to broken windows policing but so far, the controversial initiatives have done little to stem crime overall. 

While both homicides and rapes dropped 15.8% and 4.3% respectively in March compared to 2021, shootings, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larcenies, auto thefts and hate crimes have all spiked compared to last year. 

The overall jump this year is largely driven by steep increases in vehicle thefts, robberies, grand larcenies and burglaries, cops said.

Shooting incidents spiked 16.2% in March and year to date, the NYPD has clocked 332 victims of gun violence – a 14.5% increase compared to the same period in 2021 and an average rate of nearly four shooting victims per day, data show. 

“Our police need more help,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Wednesday during the first crime stats press conference held since Adams took office and only the second time the rookie commissioner has briefed reporters at police headquarters. 

 

Sewell said that “our police need more help” at her press conference on crime data on April 6, 2022

 

“We need help from every corner of the criminal justice system and from everyone who lives in, works in or visits our great city. Any amount of crime and disorder is unacceptable.”

The continued spike in shootings happened during some of the coldest months of the year when gun violence usually dips and it’s a trend that police sources worry will only get worse come summertime when shootings traditionally tick up in the warmer months. 

The data comes as Adams, who clinched the vote on the promise he’d bring safety and order back to the Big Apple, marked 100 days in office. His tenure so far has been marred by seven police shootings and crime levels that continue to eclipse pre-pandemic numbers. 

While crime remains a far cry from what has been dubbed in Gotham as the “bad ol’ days” of the 1980s and 1990s, they remain at a five-year high overall at least. 

Compared to pre-pandemic, 2019 levels, vehicle thefts in March 2022 are up 107%, shootings increased 69%, grand larceny spiked 26%, felony assault is up 22.5% and robberies saw a 37% uptick. 

On Monday evening around 7 p.m., 61-year-old Juana Esperanza Soriano De-Perdomo was walking on East 188th Street near Grand Concourse when she was fatally struck by a stray bullet, cops said.

Several days earlier, 12-year-old Kade Lewin was killed when a stray bullet struck him in the head while he was sitting in a parked car with two relatives in Brooklyn and on March 25, a 3-year-old girl was hit by a stray bullet while leaving her Brooklyn daycare around 6 p.m. 

The NYPD’s new anti-gun unit, dubbed the Neighborhood Safety Teams and considered a revamped version of the disbanded anti-crime unit, has been chiefed with reducing street crime and shootings. In the three weeks since the program took effect on March 14, the teams have made 135 arrests but only 19% were for firearms, or just 25, said Chief of Department Ken Corey.

Of those arrested for guns, four were juveniles, five have open felony cases and seven were previously convicted of a crime. 

 

According to Chief of Department Ken Corey, just 19% of the Neighborhood Safety Teams’ arrests have been for firearms 

 

In total, 91 of the 135 cuffed have prior arrests, 57 have prior felony arrests and 21 were on parole or probation when they were taken into custody, Corey said. 

Of those arrested, only 10% are still behind bars, Corey said, but failed to provide specifics on what the defendants were charged with and why they were out of jail. 

Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri attempted to blame the uptick in auto thefts, burglaries and robberies on “recidivists” but the impact repeat offenders have had is negligible. While recidivist arrests for robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts increased 47% in 2022 compared to 2019, repeat offenders accounted for less than a percent of those arrested for the crimes this year. 

When asked how long it’ll take to see a reduction in crime following the creation of the NSTs and change in policing style, Sewell said results are expected “fairly quickly.”

“But we do know it does not take weeks to reverse trends that have happened over the last several years but we are working every single day to change those numbers,” Sewell said.  

“We certainly don’t want people to have to wait. One of the reasons we take an overview is we want to see what’s working and what’s not working and be able to correct it as we move along. We are definitely not taking our eye off the ball and we expect our results to be reflected in that and that’s what I think we are starting to see.”

WILL NETANYAHU BE A PHOENIX?

Unleavened Bread Threatens Bennett-Lapid Government

Is Netanyahu’s return to power on the horizon after coalition lawmaker defects, leaving Bennett without a Knesset majority?

 

by Tsvi Sadan

 

Israel Today

April 7, 2022 

 

 

 

Right-wing Israeli voters celebrate the new rift in the Bennett government following coalition whip Idit Silman's defection to the opposition, and calls or Benjamin Netanyahu's return to power 

 

 

Idit Silman, who until yesterday served as coalition whip, is still technically a member of Knesset for Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party. But her abrupt defection to the opposition, which came as a complete surprise, has erased the coalition’s parliamentary majority and effectively leaves Bennett’s own party with just five seats in the legislature.

For the right-wing constituency, members of Yamina (which is a right-wing faction, the name literally meaning “rightward”) are seen as outright traitors who preferred power over protecting Israel’s reason to exist, namely Zionism, a term signifying the realization of the prophetic vision to restore the Jewish people in their ancient homeland.

The moment that the current government decided to include the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned political party Ra’am in its ranks, everyone knew something was amiss, but few were courageous enough to call it Israel’s first anti-Zionist government. As time went by, this sad and harsh reality was reluctantly accepted by myriads, who still consider themselves Zionists, despite the relentless campaigns against the notion of a Jewish state, considered today by progressives as a racist and colonial entity.

 

Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are now scrambling to keep their unity government in power without a majority in Knesset

 

The progressive, post-modern “Woke” mindset that has swept Israel’s strongholds of power judicial system, academia, media gave the impression that Israel had succumbed to what really amounts to an antisemitic worldview, which rejects the Jewish state’s right to exist. But, as should be clear from the fact that our prime minister controls a mere five seats in parliament, this is a minority mindset. Nevertheless, in the name of democracy, it has succeeded in forcing its views on the majority, the 70 percent of Israelis, most of whom are Jews.

What finally broke Silman was the issue of matza, the unleavened bread. According to the “Hametz (leaven) law,” legislated in 1986, during the seven days of Passover, businesses are prohibited to sell or even display products that contain yeast, which obviously includes bread, but also everything from Whisky to Cornflakes. This law does not apply in places where the majority are not Jews, that is, in Muslim and Christian towns or neighborhoods like Jaffa.

This law merely codified the widespread practice of Jews strictly observing the commandment, “unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen” (Exodus 13:7). Why Jews observe this commandment and not others can’t be answered here. Among the stipulations of this commandment are the prohibition to display leavened products in supermarkets, kiosks and convenience stores. This is why in Israel they cover shelves with white plastic sheets. They neither show it, nor sell it. Army bases are methodically cleansed of any trace of leaven. Hospitals too are prohibited from serving non-kosher meals during Passover; and all visitors, Jews and non-Jews alike, are prohibited from bringing any form of break onto the premises.

It should be noted that similar restrictions are applied to Jews and other non-Muslims during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims must fast. For example, Jews are forbidden to carry food or water bottles onto the Temple Mount or any other holy place were Muslims might congregate.

 

Coalition whip Idit Silman said she could no longer stomach the current government’s assaults on Israel’s Zionist foundation. If a new right-wing government is formed following her defection, Netanyahu has reportedly promised to appoint Silman as Minister of Health 

 

The “leaven law” has never bothered Muslims or Christians living in Israel. It did, however, bother secular Jews who resented being forced to comply with something they couldn’t care less about. This law represented what they view as religious coercion restricting their personal freedom.

And, small as they are, organizations supposedly representing the secular constituency appealed to the Supreme Court over the leavened restrictions enforced on army bases and hospitals. Regarding the new appeal concerning army bases, the Court has not yet decided, though one judge has hinted at the likely coming decision by denigrating the “leaven commandment” by calling it a “seven-day matza diet.” What broke Silman, therefore, was a 2020 Court decision relating to hospitals. Contrary to what the law states, the judges decided that visitors can carry into Israeli hospitals during Passover anything they want, bread included. This decision was practically ignored, until, on March 6 of this year, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz decided to enforce it. Horowitz, head of the far-left Meretz party, which represents a fraction of Israelis, sees Passover as nothing more than a social event. He too thinks he can impose his progressivism on the majority, and he did.

But, as it turned out, that was one anti-Jewish step too far on the part of this government. Silman could no longer bear it. In her letter of resignation from the coalition (not from the party), she wrote among other things, “I can no longer bear the damage to values and symbols that are essence and right. It’s time to recalculate the route. To try forming a national, Jewish, Zionist government.” What it means is, that this government represents neither Judaism nor Zionism. So says the very person who until just a day ago served as coalition whip. It also means that those who have accused this government of being anti-Zionist were right all along.

If this government falls, it will fall on this issue alone, whether Israel should be a Jewish state or just another democratic state; an issue that would have been a non-issue if the majority of Israelis were properly represented in our halls of power.

THE PALESTINIANS WOULD BE BETTER OFF WITHOUT THEIR OWN STATE

A Palestinian State Benefits Nobody

More and more Palestinians say they simply can’t live without Israel

 

 by Ryan Jones

Israel Today

April 7, 2022 

 

 

 

Palestinians waiting at the Tarqumiyah crossing on their way to work at their jobs in Israel 

 

 

It is widely assumed that a Palestinian state will not only benefit the Palestinian Arabs, but is crucial to their future as a “people.”

But, as legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Belson wrote for an episode of Odd Couple back in the 1970s, “Never ASSUME, because when you ASSUME, you make an ASS of U and ME.”

The entire land-for-peace process has been based on this assumption. The thing is, it isn’t shared by a great many Palestinian Arabs, the people who the scheme is ostensibly designed to benefit.

“Everyone wants to work [in Israel], everyone wants quiet, and a good life,” a man from Gaza told Ynetnews after Israel issued a record number of work permits in response to relative calm in the region.

That many Palestinians now realize this “quiet, good life” cannot be had under either the Palestinian Authority (PA) or Hamas is a recurring theme in recent years.

Who wants to live in Palestine?

Last year, the Israeli army expressed concern over the growing number of Palestinians requesting permits to bring their children into Israel for medical treatment, only to abandon those children at the Gaza border and sneak into the Jewish state. Life on the run in Israel was preferable to life under Hamas.

Others have told Israel Today that they’d rather have the IDF return and reimpose Israeli sovereignty over the Gaza Strip. “There was once hope we could remove Hamas through elections. But now we realize that [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas is not much better. He hasn’t done anything for the Palestinian people. Many now believe that Israeli occupation is preferable,” Muhanad, a 35-year-old Gaza resident, told us back in 2018.

Two years prior, even the Palestinian Authority’s official media mouthpieces had to admit that Palestinian Arabs were better off working for Israelis. “The lack of monitoring of [Palestinian] owners of companies and factories and their exploitation of workers is what has forced people to Israel, to work and build in Israel. Workers have to go to Israel, because no one [in the PA] gives them what they deserve for their work,” said Qassem Abu Hadwan, a laborer from Hebron, in a 2016 interview with PA TV.

At a recent Likud campaign rally ahead of the upcoming Israeli election, MK Gideon Sa’ar insisted that “there is nothing to be gained from a non-functional, non-viable [Palestinian] state…” And that is true for both Israel and the Palestinians themselves.

The Palestinians are merely pawns

The reality is that the land-for-peace process is more about putting Israel in its place – for both the Arabs and the international community – than it is about truly helping the Palestinians. 

• While international human rights bodies regularly raise hell over ever perceived Israeli violation, rampant abuse of human rights by the PA and Hamas are all but ignored;
• The world media treats as a crisis of global proportions the deaths of a handful of local Palestinians during violent clashes with Israeli soldiers, for instance on the border of Gaza. Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands of Palestinians have been targeted and killed in Syria’s civil war, and the world’s reaction has been minimal;
• The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is so focused on bringing down Israel that it doesn’t realize, or care, that its efforts hurt first and foremost the Palestinian Arabs quoted above who work for Israeli employers.

A demographic threat?

Israel itself is concerned that by not facilitating the creation of a Palestinian state, or at least an autonomous Palestinian entity, it will face an insurmountable demographic threat that will soon result in the Jews being outnumbered in the Jewish state.

Perhaps they’re right, and a one-state solution is detrimental to Israel’s future. Still, one must remember that David Ben Gurion and his generation declared Israel’s independence when Jews were still a minority west of the Jordan River. It is unwise to dismiss faith when making political decisions in this land.

What is certain is that a Palestinian state born under the present circumstances will be unable to stand on its own two feet, let alone provide a better future for its people, who will continue to seek their livelihood in Israel. How does that solve anything?

UPDATE ON THE SACRAMENTO SHOOTING

by Bob Walsh

 

 

                                      Bloods vs. Crips

 

 

It now seems virtually certain that this was a Crips vs Bloods thing.  The cops believe there were probably five shooters.  More than 100 shots were fired.  A couple of suspects are in custody and they are still looking for others.  Two guns were recovered, including one semi-auto pistol that had been tweaked to fire full auto.  None of the suspects has yet been charged with the actual shootings but have been charged with being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.  One has already made bail. 

THE HUG-A-CRIMINAL CROWD COMPLAINS ABOUT CONDITIONS IN OUR PRISONS ..... THEY SHOULD SPEND JUST ONE DAY LOCKED UP IN THE QUEZON CITY JAIL

Harrowing photos show overcrowded & disease-ridden Philippines prison housing British ‘mob boss’ 

 

By Adrian Zorzut

 

The Sun

April 6, 2022 

 

 

 This photo taken on March 27, 2020 shows prison inmates in cramped 

 

This photo taken on March 27, 2020 shows prison inmates in cramped conditions at the crowded courtyard of the Quezon City jail in Manila

 

These chilling photos show the overcrowded and disease-ridden prison in the Philippines where a Brit mob boss is locked up.

Darren Wall, 44, was arrested with his wife Khanary Jane Abejo, 23, in a nightclub in Manila in March for allegedly brandishing a gun.

He was reportedly found with six grams of cocaine along with a 9 mm Beretta pistol – but Wall denies any wrongdoing and claims the gun wasn’t his.

Cops claim the East Londoner was the leader of a brutal gang operating in the capital’s notorious red-light district and want him behind bars for 18 years without parole over alleged drug dealings and extortion rackets.

Wall faces dying in Quezon City Jail, which is almost five times over capacity, leaving inmates stewing in their own filth.

The prison in the Philippines ‘ capital was built for just 800 but now has 3,800 inmates.

 

Inmates sleep on the ground of an open basketball court inside the Quezon City jail at night in Manila

Lags sleep in shifts on stairways, a basketball court floor and hammocks fashioned from old blankets in the six-decade-old jailhouse.

The inmates can be seen washing themselves in the same water they clean their clothes, right next to where they cook in the overcrowded jail.

But some joy manages to break through the squalor and cramped conditions as they take part in group dancing competitions in yellow uniforms on the cracked open air basketball court.

The jail houses prisoners awaiting trial and one former inmate has returned after studying criminal justice in the USA.

Raymund Narag says when he was 20-years-old he was falsely accused of murder and spent seven years in a cell with 30 other men which was built for just five.

During his time behind bars Raymund lived on a diet of dried fish which he claims left him on the edge of starvation.

 

There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800

Now a Doctor of Criminal Justice having studied at Michigan State University, Dr Narag is now an assistant professor at the Southern Illinois University.

He returned to his former cage to study how Filipino prisons can be reformed.

Talking of his life behind bars, he has said: “I saw firsthand the intricacies of managing a crowded, underfunded, undermanned prison institution.”

Dr. Narang has said the food is not only inadequate but inmates can often find rusty nails and cockroaches leaving it inedible.

It is also served at irregular intervals at odd times of the day, making it impossible for them to gain any sense of routine to cope with the squalor.

The horrific conditions can cause serious health difficulties for the lags which can cause nasty rashes and boils to erupt on their skin.

Some of the men are even said to have suffered strokes as a result of sleeping in a squatted position.

Dr Narag said: “Inmates are prone to contagious diseases because of the poor living conditions in their cells.

“They sleep in overcrowded, poorly ventilated cells. The supply of potable water is very limited. Food rations have inadequate nutritional content. Sick and healthy inmates are grouped in the same cells.”

“Every month in Quezon City Jail, around two to five inmates die of illness.”

The crushing boredom and lack of sleep also leads to inmates developing depression and other mental illnesses.

Dr. Narag said his seven years of hell in Quezon City made him determined to talk about the horrors he had witnessed behind bars.

 

Prisoners crowd into any available space to rest inside their overcrowded cage

He charted his experience of doing time in a book titled “Freedom and death inside the City Jail”.

In it he describes the squalid conditions and describes the prevalence of bribery, corruption and torture which riddles the prison system.

He says officers have been known to force prisoners to hang like bats from bars for hours, suffocate them with plastic and even electrocute and pour hot candle wax on inmates’ genitals.

THE SECOND COMING AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Obama makes first public appearance at White House since 2017 

 

By Steven Nelson

 

New York Post

April 5, 2022

 

 

This was former President Barack Obama’s first public appearance at the White House since he left office

 

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris gushed Tuesday that it “feels good” to have former President Barack Obama at the White House before the 44th president teasingly referred to President Biden as “Vice President Biden.”

The popular 60-year-old former president received a rock star’s welcome in the White House East Room to celebrate the 12th anniversary of ObamaCare.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Harris chuckled as Obama made his first public appearance at the White House since leaving office in 2017.

 

Vice President Kamala Harris said it “feels good” to have 44th President Barack Obama back at the White House

 

Obama stepped up to the lectern and drew laughs when he acknowledged “Vice President Biden” before adding, “That was a joke.”

Biden didn’t appear to think he was being shown up by his former boss during the unusually jovial event, where few people wore anti-COVID-19 face masks

.

President Barack Obama teased President Biden by referring to him as “Vice President

 

“Mr. President, welcome back to the White House, man. It feels like good old days,” Biden said after introducing himself as “Joe Biden, Barack Obama’s vice president.”

“Being here with you brings back so many good memories. We just had lunch together. We weren’t sure who was supposed to sit where,” Biden added.

Although Obama lives about 2 miles from the White House, he has kept his distance from the Biden administration and his Tuesday visit is believed to be his first time back since he left office in January 2017.

 

Former President Barack Obama was at the White House to commemorate the 12th anniversary of ObamaCare

Obama, the first black president, was elected to two terms with broad majorities. He was re-elected in 2012 by a 5 million-vote margin over Republican candidate Mitt Romney and remains broadly popular among Democrats.

After speaking, Biden signed an order boosting health insurance subsidies in order to eliminate what he called a “family glitch” that made it difficult for low-paid workers to buy health insurance for family members via ObamaCare.

Biden said that “200,000 presently uninsured Americans are going to gain coverage and nearly 1 million Americans will see their coverage become more affordable” as a result of the change.

ObamaCare, passed in 2010, contained popular provisions that allowed young adults to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies until age 26 and regulated how health insurance companies treated people with pre-existing conditions.

But other provisions in ObamaCare were less popular, including a mandate that people buy private insurance policies or face a fine. Republicans repealed that policy in 2017. Some GOP-led states, meanwhile, resisted the law’s expansion of Medicaid for lower-income people.

Obama joked Tuesday about the botched 2013 launch of Healthcare.gov, through which people were supposed to be able to buy insurance policies.

“Let’s face it, it didn’t help there when we first rolled up the [Affordable Care Act], the website didn’t work. That was not one of my happiest moments,” Obama said.

But Obama said the bill “secured the principle of universal health care.”

“The analogy I’ve used about the ACA before is the same way that was true for early forms of Social Security, Medicare, it was a starter home,” he said. “It secured the principle of universal health care, provided help immediately to families, but it required us to continue to build on and make it better.”

Biden hosted Obama as he suffers badly in polls amid a series of crises, including inflation and illegal immigration hitting four-decade highs as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions drag on. Biden’s support in polls plummeted after the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August and Democrats are bracing for a midterm election drubbing.

CONSERVATIVES SAY EARLY RELEASE SAVES THE TAXPAYERS MONEY ..... YEAH, WAIT UNTIL THE TAXPAYERS HAVE PAID FOR ALL THE TRIALS AND APPEALS

2nd Sacramento suspect had been freed early from prison on assault rap 

 

By Mark Lungariello

 

New York Post

April 5, 2022

 

                                                        Smiley Allen Martin

 

The second suspect arrested in the deadly Sacramento mass shooting posed with a handgun in a Facebook Live video hours before the carnage began, law-enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Smiley Martin, 27, also had been freed early from a 10-year prison sentence for beating up his girlfriend — despite the protests of prosecutors who told the California parole board that the repeat offender should stay behind bars.

Martin had pushed the woman to work as a prostitute, according to a two-page letter from District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office obtained by the Sacramento Bee.

“He has no respect for others, for law enforcement or for the law,” Deputy District Attorney Danielle Abildgaard wrote in the letter.

“If he is released early, he will continue to break the law.”

Martin has been charged with possession of a machine gun in the mass shooting. Sources told the Bee the gun was a handgun that had been converted to an automatic weapon that was found at the scene.

Martin was busted in the hospital while he recovered from gunshot wounds from the shooting Sunday that killed six people and injured 12 more. 

 

Dandrae Martin, Smiley’s brother, was the first suspect busted in the Sacramento massacre

It’s not clear if the gun he is seen with in his Facebook Live video is the same as the weapon recovered at the scene, the newspaper said. A Facebook profile appearing to belong to the suspect was set to private Tuesday.

Martin’s brother, 26-year-old Dandrae Martin, was the first suspect busted in the shooting. Neither has been charged with a homicide, and police believe multiple shooters were involved.

Smiley had several run-ins with the law dating back to 2013, including a conviction for possession of an assault weapon. He has been convicted in a series of snatch-and-grab robberies, for giving false info to cops and attempting to run away on foot during a traffic stop, according to the Bee.

 

                                                       The victims of the Sacramento massacre

In addition, he was convicted in the assault of his girlfriend, who he encouraged to be a sex worker, giving her advice on the type of clients she should pursue and how to accept payment, according to the prosecutor’s letter.

“He located her hiding in her bedroom closet and hit her repeatedly on the face, head, and body, causing visible injuries,” the letter stated.

“He then dragged her out of the home by her hair to an awaiting car. After he put her in the car, he assaulted her with a belt.”

The prosecutor said Martin’s criminal conduct was “violent and lengthy,” according to the Associated Press.

“Martin has committed several felony violations and clearly has little regard for human life and the law,” the letter said.

WILL CHINA'S VETO IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL PREVENT THE RUSSIANS FROM BEING CHARGED WITH WAR CRIMES?

Israel Knows Something About War Crimes Accusations

Facts fall short when emotions are involved. In the end, everyone believes what suits them

 

by Aviel Schneider

Israel Today

April 6, 2022

Russian troops executed Ukrainian civilians in Bucha and dumped their bodies in a mass grave. The Russians claim this and other atrocity pictures are staged   

Nothing is occupying the world media more than the massacre in Bucha. The pictures and videos from the suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have caused horror around the world. Media and governments speak of a Russian war crime. Both in Israel and abroad media and politicians are speaking of the worst crime of the 21st century. And fervor is building over the massacre in the Ukrainian city. Just Google it and with one click you can see how outraged people are over the scenes from Bucha. The Israeli media has been covering the situation in as much detail as any other.

Russia sees a “Western conspiracy” in the pictures from Bucha and rejects the serious allegations from Kyiv. “The Ukrainian government staged the situation in Bucha,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “It was a fabricated attack designed to discredit Russia.” His spokeswoman was even clearer, saying the US and its Western allies commissioned the gruesome images. I know colleagues in Jerusalem who actually agree and likewise see a Western conspiracy in the Butcha massacre. Which is truer, the Russian war crimes or the Western conspiracy?

In Israel this situation takes on greater meaning because Israel has itself been accused numerous times over the years of war crimes, apartheid, colonialism, genocide, ethnic cleansing and all other manner of misbehavior. This is not to say that a war crime did or did not take place in Bucha. I just want to draw attention to how many times Israel has been accused of the same in its fight against Palestinian terrorism. After every operation in Gaza, Israel is accused of a war crime. Horrifying photos of dead Palestinian children or weeping mothers against a backdrop of rubble flood the media, often making it easy to vent one’s anger at Israel. Instinctively, people feel sorry for the victims in the pictures and videos. Israel has had to defend itself against this to this day.

 

A Palestinian mother mourns for her two children killed during Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians used such pictures as proof of  Israel war crimes

I am convinced that Israel has never committed war crimes. I know the DNA of the people too well for that. In fact, the mercy of Israeli soldiers often plays to their disadvantage. Although there are isolated cases of an Israeli soldier fatally beating or shooting a Palestinian, this is certainly not a policy within the Israeli army. Soldiers who commit such crimes are tried by a military court with the help of Palestinian family members. This acts as a deference to such behavior. Israeli soldiers know they will be brought to justice. That in itself is a sensitive issue in Israeli society.

Israel cares more about its enemies than the enemies care about themselves. Yet Israel continues to be accused of war crimes. Israel wants only one thing: to live in peace and quiet. And for that, Israel has to defend itself, and that’s not a war crime. The daily riots during Ramadan at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate have become a trend among young Palestinians, most of whom are not even residents of the city. In Arab networks, these young people are being criticized by their fellow Palestinian Muslims for spoiling the holidays for the majority.

On TikTok, Palestinians complain that one should not be surprised that action must be taken against the Palestinian instigators. I mention this because many Palestinians themselves admit that Israel is not a war criminal. But those who refuse to accept this will always and forever blame Israel for everything, including war crimes.

The Palestinian man filming at the Damascus Gate first shows the clowns who have come to make families and children happy on the nights of Ramadan, then scolds the young Muslims who hang around and spoil the holiday spirit. He protests that they provoke the police, who then fire smoke grenades and disperse the crowd. “Why are these young people destroying Ramadan and the joy of families? Why should the place be cleared? We haven’t had Ramadan for 5-6 years,” he laments.

This also applies to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is hated around the world. The media and governments have already convicted Putin of war crimes. Israel’s former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu have both been vilified around the world as hardliners. We know these attacks. I’m not writing this in reference to Vladimir Putin, but in reference to the frequent accusations Israel faces. Also for me there is a big difference between the Israeli and the Russian armies. We can all see what happened in Bucha in pictures and videos.

When I claim that Israel has not committed any war crimes and the Russians have, I know that I’m preaching to the choir. Facts fall short when emotions are involved. And in the end everyone believes what suits them. And the truth always comes out in the end.

LOOKING GOOD FOR THE CHESA BOUDIN RECALL

By BobWalsh

 

There is now some pretty decent polling info on the upcoming (June 7) recall vote for Chesa Boudin, the current uber-liberal District Attorney of the People's Republic of San Francisco.

The current spread is about 71% in favor of throwing the commie bastard out and 28% in favor of keeping him.  Virtually all of the respondents indicated they were very solid in their thoughts on the issue.  That does not bode well for Boudin.

Even some of the filthy rich locals are helping to fun the throw him out movement.  I guess even rich liberal idiots have their limits on stupidity.

ANOTHER CALIFORNIA WARM-AND-FUZZY LAW NOT LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE

by Bob Walsh

About two years ago the formerly great state of California passed a law that required businesses headquartered in CA to have at least one and possibly as many as three members on their board who are members of underrepresented communities.  This might include open homosexuals, transsexuals, left-handed Lithuanian alcoholic child molesters, dog nappers, insurance salesmen and other people who do not normally land on the board.  The Secretary of State would have the power to fine companies who did not comply..

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled about three days ago that this has serious problems with equal protection under the law and other issues along those lines.  It is not clear yet what steps the state will take, if any, to appeal.

PASSENGERS AND CREW FELT THE MID-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT WAS NOT APPROPRIATE ..... IT WAS SO BAD THAT THE SHOWMAN WAS JAILED AND PUT ON THE 'NO-FLY' LIST

Antonio McGarity: Southwest Airlines passenger arrested for masturbating 4 times during flight

Accused passenger, Antonio McGarity thought what he was doing was 'kind of kinky' 

 

By Laipubam Gladia Devi 

 

meaww

April 4,, 2022

 

 Antonio Sherrodd McGarity masturbated 4 times near a female passenger

 

A Southwest Airlines passenger was arrested for allegedly masturbating four times and exposing himself to a horrified witness. Now, the passenger faces charges related to indecent, obscene, or lewd acts and has been listed on the no-fly list of the airline.

Passenger, Antonio Sherrodd McGarity is accused of lewd behavior on Southwest flight 3814 on April 2, 2022, from Seattle to Phoenix. A criminal complaint alleges that shortly after the plane began its journey, McGarity lowered his pants and masturbated at least four times while sitting next to a female passenger. According to the complaint, the female passenger claims that McGarity masturbated in front of her on four separate occasions, using both his left and right hands; then she informed flight attendants of the situation, ultimately prompting them to change her seat.

The complaint states: "McGarity was seated in seat 11F and the female witness was seated in seat 11E. Shortly after taking off, and while the aircraft was in the air, McGarity exposed [himself] by pulling down his pants and shorts and began masturbating." The complaint also states that as evidence, when McGarity was sleeping, the female passenger took photos of the man with his pants down, then she asked to change seats.

Once the plane arrived, Phoenix police officers questioned the woman, who said McGarity masturbated in front of her on four separate occasions, using both his left and right hands.

Then, McGarity was questioned by FBI Special Agents, and he reportedly admitted to touching himself and further claims that he asked the female passenger if she would mind it and she said she did not mind it.

He told officers he "asked the female witness if she minded if he masturbates". According to McGarity, the female witness put her hands in the air and said, "It really doesn’t matter," the complaint adds. The document also notes that McGarity thought what he was doing was 'kind of kinky.' Now, after an investigation, McGarity has been arrested and authorities said that he is facing charges related to indecent, obscene, or lewd acts.

According to a report by The Sun, Southwest airlines commented on the incident, saying, "On April 2, crewmembers received reports of inappropriate customer behavior during a flight from Seattle to Phoenix, and the captain requested that law enforcement meet the aircraft upon arrival. We immediately placed the passenger on our No-Fly List, resulting in a lifetime ban from traveling on Southwest Airlines.

BLM QUICKLY MOBILIZES THOUSANDS EVERY INFREQUENT TIME A WHITE COP SHOOTS A BLACK PERSON, BUT KIDS WILL KEEP DYING BECAUSE BLM DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THE DAILY BLACK-ON-BLACK KILLINGS

How many kids like Kade Lewin must die before Albany gets serious about crime?

Post Editorial Board

 

New York Post

April 4, 2022

 

 

Mayor Eric Adams holding a press conference about the shooting death of Kade Lewin with Kade's mother Suzette Lewin on April 4, 2022 

 

“I’m asking for justice for Kade,” Suzette Lewin sobbed Monday, clutching a photo her son, 12, shot dead while eating in a car Thursday. Mayor Eric Adams, at her side, asked, “Whose child is next?”

 

The car in which Kade Lewin was eating when he was shot in the head and killed during a drive-by shooting in East Flatbush

 

How many more innocent kids must die before the Legislature gets serious about reversing New York’s soaring crime? Kade Lewin’s pointless death follows the 3-year-old girl hit by gunfire last month outside a Brownsville day-care center, the 7-year-old grazed by a bullet in Coney Island and the 11-month-old nicked by a stray bullet in The Bronx in January.

Yet the Democratic majorities in both chambers are seeing how little of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s already-insufficient criminal-justice fixes they’ll accept. 

 

Suzette Lewin said she is looking for justice for her son

The mayor reports that his new anti-gun unit found that 70% of its gun-wielding arrestees had a prior criminal history: The perps released on lesser charges escalate.

New York’s lawmakers face a simple choice: Give judges the discretion to order remand for offenders they deem dangerous, or let the streets fill with the blood of children.

WHEN LOOKING AT VIDEOS OF THE UKRAINE WAR, ONE CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THE RUSSIANS ARE COMMITING WAR CRIMES

Israeli Ministers Accuse Russia of War Crimes in Ukraine

But some, including Prime Minister Bennett, continue to maintain a ‘balanced’ approach to the war in Europe

 

Israel Today Staff

April 5, 2022

 

 

Israel Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz (center) at the Israeli field hospital in Ukraine, where he accused Russia of war crimes

 

In as far as he speaks for the Israeli government, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz on Monday effectively accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

 

The Israeli medical team on the ground in western Ukraine

 

Horowitz said that his visit to the Israeli field hospital established west of Lviv was a sign of “solidarity with Ukraine in the face of a brutal Russian invasion and in the face of the massacres and war crimes that are being uncovered these days across the country.”

He added that the field hospital, which until now has helped over 2,000 Ukrainians, represents the “true face” of Israel and its health system.

 

Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also condemned the Russians for committing war crimes 

 

Adding his weight to the charges of crimes against humanity was Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who responded to the horrifying images coming out of the Kiev suburb of Bucha by stating: “Intentionally harming a civilian population is a war crime and I strongly condemn it.”

These statements marked the harshest criticism of Russia by senior Israeli officials since the invasion of Ukraine began.

Russian troops executed Ukrainian civilians in Bucha and dumped their bodies in a mass grave

 

But do they represent the entire government? Does this mean that Israel itself has condemned Russia and accused it of war crimes?

Those question marks remain given that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett still refrains from condemning Russia in continued hope that he can play a mediating role.

Meanwhile, some senior officials like Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman insist on a balanced approach that puts the interests of Israel first.

“Russia is blaming Ukraine and Ukraine is blaming Russia,” he told Army Radio. “We condemn, but really what we need to understand is that there is a bloody war and we must, on the one hand, maintain Israel’s moral position and on the other hand preserve the interests of the State of Israel.”

How the tables have seemingly turned. High-ranking voices in Israel level charges of war crimes against a country that typically sides with those accusing Israel of war crimes. While others urge restraint and “balance” in approaching the matter.

Meanwhile, Western powers demand Israel join them in siding unequivocally against Russia. But these same Western powers themselves preach restraint and balance any time Israel is forced to fight its Arab foes, most notably those entrenched in Gaza.

JEWS AND PALESTINIANS LIVING SIDE BY SIDE IN PEACE ..... HA HA HA, THAT'S A GOOD JOKE, HA HA HA

Palestinians Reject Even Liberal ‘Peace-Loving’ Jews

Israel’s dovish foreign minister slammed for “dangerous escalation and provocation”

 

Israel Today Staff

April 5, 2022

 

 

Even the presence of the dovish Yair Lapid near Jerusalem's Old City is a "provocation"

 

A constant refrain during Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership was that his hawkish views and “war-mongering” toward the Palestinians was a primary source of ongoing conflict.

But this week the Palestinians, from Mahmoud Abbas to Hamas, demonstrated that it’s Jews in general, and not only the likes of Netanyahu, that they reject.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is painted as a centrist, but his leanings in regards to the conflict with the Palestinians are to the left. He doesn’t believe a comprehensive peace can be achieved with the Palestinians at this time, but he is in favor of withdrawing (separating) from the lands they claim, thus facilitating a de facto Palestinian state.

You’d think the Palestinians would relate to Lapid differently than they do to Netanyahu. You’d think they’d see him as at least partially “on their side.”

However, when Lapid visited the area of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss police measures to curb a recent wave of violence there, the Palestinians employed the same language they would against Netanyahu.

“The continuing actions of the occupation army, its police provocations, and the incursions of settlers will lead the situation to explode,” said Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeinah. He called Lapid’s visit to the Damascus Gate “irresponsible,” and Hamas termed it a “dangerous escalation and provocation.”

That’s the Palestinian response to a left-leaning Israeli government official who supports the two-state solution. And it reveals, once again, that it’s not right-wing Israelis or diehard settlers alone that the Palestinians see as a provocation. It’s all Jews.

For the Palestinian leadership–both the “moderate” Palestinian Authority and the radical Hamas–the presence of any Jews on land they claim is a provocation.