Body and Soul

New Yorkers are not safe under liberal rule

Posted on April 15, 2025 by DCG | 3 comments

Democrats have proven they care more about criminals than law-abiding citizens. Whether it’s through their “Defund the Police” movement, harboring illegal aliens, or soft-on-crime policies and eliminating cash bail, criminals are prioritized in their cities and states.

Imagine a criminal breaking into your residence three times in under ten days and the courts allowing him to roam free after each occurence. That’s what a woman is having to deal with the Bronx. From NY Post:

“A terrorized Bronx woman has armed herself with a pair of pit bulls in a desperate effort to defend herself from an unhinged career criminal who keeps breaking into her home — but remains on the streets.

Beauty salon owner Itesha Hairston said she’s petrified that 33-year-old Jarrell Coburn is stalking her after the vagrant broke into her home three times in under 10 days last month, but keeps getting a slap on the wrist due to a soft-on-crime court system that won’t lock him up.

In fact, Coburn, who has at least nine unsealed busts on his rap sheet, tried to bust in again on April 9 — just nine days after he was last nabbed inside her Longwood ground-floor apartment.

“He really think this is his apartment,” Hairston, 47, told The Post. “He really thinks he lives here. This guy is very, very dangerous. He just won’t stop. The guy won’t stop. I don’t know this guy from anywhere. Something’s really wrong with this dude,” she added. “That’s why I got my sister’s dogs. The law won’t do anything to protect me. I’ve got to be protected somehow.”

Coburn, whose past arrests include charges that he assaulted and spat on NYPD cops, has five open cases in the Bronx, including three for allegedly breaking into Hairston’s apartment.”

Read the whole story here.

Each time the perp was arrested for breaking into Itesha’s apartment, a judge released him without bail. The reason for no bail: Criminal trespassing charges are not eligible for bail under the state’s lenient 2019 criminal justice reforms.

New Yorkers are going to have to learn the hard way:

DCG

3 Comments

Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, failed state, safety, The Left

Tagged criminal trespassing, New York City

Pets are as good for our health as family and friends

Posted on April 15, 2025 by DrE | 7 comments

I’ve always hoped and thought this to be true. Now we have a scientific study providing us with evidence!

From MedicineNet, April 11, 2025:

A new study found that having a furry friend may boost your overall life satisfaction as much as being married or regularly spending time with loved ones.

And it’s something researchers can actually put a price tag on. A team in the U.K. says the emotional value of owning a pet is worth as much £70,000, or about $90,000 a year in life satisfaction.

That’s a statistical measure they use to gauge the “implicit price” of otherwise intangible things — for example, the theoretical boost in income a person would get from having a spouse or regular meet-ups with friends.

The findings were published March 31 in the journal Social Indicators Research.

The study’s co-author Adelina Gschwandtner, an economics professor at the University of Kent, told CNN, “If pets are indeed like friends and family, why shouldn’t that measure be comparable to talking to friends and family once a week? You have your pet every day.”

The team used data from a survey of 2,500 British households. The findings suggest that pets may offer many of the same emotional benefits as human relationships. That’s why Gschwandtner believes policymakers should make it easier for people to have pets — for example by changing housing rules that limit them.

But not all experts agree that pets can fully replace human connections. “While animals are connected to us in powerful ways, they are not the same as humans,” said Megan Mueller, a professor at Tufts University who studies human-animal relationships.

7 Comments

Posted in God's creation, Health

Remarkable: Elephants form alert circle in San Diego earthquake

Posted on April 15, 2025 by DrE | 6 comments

Yesterday, there was a 5.2 earthquake in the San Diego, CA, area.

Elephants in the San Diego Zoo immediately reacted to the first tremors by forming an alert circle. I didn’t know elephants do that. Did you?

Here’s the remarkable video footage:

6 Comments

Posted in God's creation

Tagged alert circle, earthquake, elephants

Blue city Seattle ends defund-police due to soaring crime

Posted on April 14, 2025 by DrE | 7 comments

The Patriot Journal reports:

In 2017, before the “defund” movement took hold, Seattle recorded 27 homicides. By 2022, that number had skyrocketed to 54 murders – a 100% increase. Rapes jumped from 255 to 347, and aggravated assaults soared from 2,474 to 3,516. Surprised? We’re not.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Police Department hemorrhaged officers. More than 700 police personnel have separated from the department since 2020, when the city first embraced anti-police initiatives following George Floyd’s death. The force plummeted from 1,400 sworn officers in 2017 to a mere 913 in 2024 – an unprecedented staffing crisis that left neighborhoods vulnerable and response times dangerously long. How many 911 calls went unanswered while Seattle’s leaders were busy virtue signaling?

On March 25, Seattle councilmember Robert Saka introduced Resolution 32167, which did something almost unthinkable in one of America’s most liberal cities: it officially acknowledged the failure of the “defund the police” movement and reversed course completely. Yes, you read that right—they actually admitted they were wrong.

The resolution didn’t just quietly walk back previous policies – it explicitly honored and affirmed “the essential services provided by the Police Department” and recognized the vital work done by all first responders. This represents a complete 180-degree turn from the anti-police rhetoric that dominated Seattle politics just a few years ago. Amazing what a crime wave can do to clarify thinking, isn’t it?

Even more telling, the resolution passed with unanimous support from those present. Not a single council member voted against it. The hard reality of their failed experiment had become impossible to deny, even for the most dedicated progressive ideologues.

Perhaps most remarkable is the personal transformation of Councilmember Saka himself. This is the same official who once wore a “Black Lawyers Matter” T-shirt to a Floyd-related protest and proudly declared his belief “in the principles of BOTH the American Flag and the Black Lives Matter movement.”

Now, Saka acknowledges that the anti-police rhetoric was “very divisive” and harmful to public safety. His evolution mirrors that of many progressives who have been forced to confront the devastating real-world consequences of their ideological crusade against law enforcement. How many victims had to suffer before this realization finally dawned on him? ….

The SPD is now working to rebuild, with interim Chief Shon Barnes prioritizing recruitment and retention. The department aims to reach at least 1,000 officers by 2026 – still below pre-“defund” levels, but a step in the right direction. It will take years to undo the damage of their progressive experiment.

7 Comments

Posted in Crime, Democrats, failed city, The Left, woke culture

Tagged defund police, Seattle

MAGA-hater woman gets instant karma

Posted on April 14, 2025 by DrE | 6 comments

From New York Post, March 23, 2-25:

A straphanger got “instant karma” when she tried to yank a MAGA hat off another rider’s head — and instead face-planted on a filthy Manhattan subway platform.

In a now-viral clip, the woman branded the hat-wearer a “racist” aboard a No. 6 train entering the 28th Street station in Manhattan last week.

“If you f–king voted for Trump, you’re a racist. He’s a racist,” the woman said to another commuter while pointing at the MAGA hat-wearing man shortly after 11:30 p.m. Wednesday on the northbound train.

Christopher Ngo, a retired Philadelphia cop-turned-life coach who recorded the clip, told The Post of the incensed commuter, “She was pretty much angry about the hat and that young man was trying to stand his ground.

“She was definitely aggressive.

“But there were other people in the car who were defending the young man with their opinions as well,” the witness said.

Some of the other straphangers urged the woman to leave the man — who chuckled at her remarks and questioned how he could be considered a racist — alone.

One of the bystanders even began arguing with the woman, telling her, “New York City has been run by Dems for the last decade and this is why things are the way they are,” Ngo said.

But the woman continued to harass the MAGA fan, who insisted he is not racist.

He then lifted the red cap off his head and ducked out of the train’s open door after it entered the station — while she lunged toward him in an attempt to snatch it away.

The pair appeared to briefly tussle before the man ran down the platform, with the woman hot on his heels and her arms outstretched toward the hat.

She only made it a few steps before she fell face-first on the platform.

“Freedom of speech — everyone has their own opinions, but when it gets physical, that’s when it just goes too far,” said Ngo, adding he contemplated stepping in before deciding to record the interaction instead.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that you can see only in New York City. And that’s what I love about the city,” he said.

The clip has since been reshared across numerous platforms, including X, where it gained momentum on conservative accounts.

“Woman falls on her face after trying to grab a MAGA hat from a man’s head in New York … Instant karma,” said Collin Rugg, co-owner of the conservative media company Trending Politics, on X on Friday.

The clip has racked up millions of views, and most commenters cheered on the embarrassing fall.

Here’s the video:

In an update, the NY Post reports that the MAGA-hater woman is Alberta Testanero, a 55-year-old dual Italian-American citizen, who is a creative director for several luxury brands like Tiffany & Co., Coach, Bergdorf Goodman and Kate Spade, Testanero prides herself on “maintaining the highest standards,” according to her online profiles.

6 Comments

Posted in Democrats, MAGA, The Left, Trump Derangement Syndrome

Tagged #MAGA, Alberta Testanero

Watch rescue pup Baxter run!

Posted on April 8, 2025 by DCG | 6 comments

Not inclined to look in on your 401(k) today?

Then watch the story of Baxter, a pup who wasn’t expected to run, let alone walk.

Luvs a happy ending!

DCG

6 Comments

Posted in dogs, God's creation

Tagged animal rescue

Two months after Los Angeles fires, guess how many permits have been issued in Palisades

Posted on March 26, 2025 by DCG | 1 comment

America’s Worst Governor: Gavin Newsom

The criminal mismanagement by democrat politicians resulted in nearly 12,000 structures being burned earlier this year in wildfires. Over 5,300 structures were destroyed in the Palisades Fire.

After the fires, Governor Newsom vowed to clear red tape for rebuilding. The governor signed an executive order to suspend portions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act for fire victims planning to start over with their homes or businesses. He told NBC:

“I’m worried about time to getting these projects done. And so we want to fast-track by eliminating any CEQA requirements. Any Coastal Act changes that we’re making. I want to make sure when someone rebuilds that they have their old property tax assessments and that they’re not increased.”

After returning from a trip to Ghana while her city burned, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to “to clear the way for Los Angeles residents to rapidly rebuild the homes they lost in the ongoing firestorm and lays the foundation for businesses to plan their rebuild.”

How do you think things are going in that area with regards to rebuilding? About as well as one could have predicted. From KABC:

“More than two months after the Palisades Fire, only four permits had been issued as of Monday for homeowners to rebuild their properties — a low figure that one Los Angeles city councilmenber said was “concerning.”

Residents in the Palisades Fire zone are trying to figure out how to move forward, but there are several obstacles in the way — including the city’s permitting process and L.A.’s looming budget deficit.

Mayor Karen Bass hired a private consulting firm to oversee the recovery effort. The contract with Hagerty Consulting is worth $10 million. Some councilmembers say that raises questions.

“We have city departments who know how to do this recovery, who have been involved in recovery efforts in the past,” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez told ABC7. “And yet they can’t be afforded the opportunity to hire the personnel that they need, but we can give a $10 million contract to an outside agency to help write a report for us.”

Read the whole story here.

At this rate, it will take over fifty years to rebuild that area.

DCG

1 Comment

Posted in Democrats, failed city, failed state, Los Angeles wildfire, Nature, The Left

Tagged CEQA, Governor Newsom, Los Angeles County, Mayor Karen Bass, Palisades fire

USAID waste & corruption as of Feb. 3, 2025

Posted on March 22, 2025 by DrE | 2 comments

From WhiteHouse.gov:

For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.

Here are only a few examples of the WASTE and ABUSE:

$1.5 million to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities”

$70,000 for production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland

$2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam

$47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia

$32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru

$2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala

$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt

Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations — even AFTER an inspector general launched an investigation

Millions to EcoHealth Alliance — which was involved in research at the Wuhan lab

“Hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria”

Funding to print “personalized” contraceptives birth control devices in developing countries

Hundreds of millions of dollars to fund “irrigation canals, farming equipment, and even fertilizer used to support the unprecedented poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan,” benefiting the Taliban

The list literally goes on and on — and it has all been happening for decades.

Under President Trump, the waste, fraud, and abuse ENDS NOW.