Category Archives: failed state

Insanity: Washington State was the only state to shift “bluer” in 2024

I grew up in Washington State and thankfully was able to flee to a red state over a decade ago.

During my voting years in the Seattle area, absolutely none of my candidates ever won.  The area has been blue for decades. Seattle has had a democrat mayor since 1969 and Washington’s last republican governor was elected in 1981. And during the past presidential election, Washington State got “slightly” bluer.

To understand this phenomenon, get inside the mind of a liberal: A business-owner who was recently robbed and doesn’t want the perps to go to jail. Seriously.

From MyNorthwest:

“Just before 2:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Desirae Aylesworth woke up to the sound of her Ring camera system notifying her of a breach in her café. Her Seattle café was being robbed, becoming the latest victim of Seattle’s crime crisis.

Aylesworth is the co-owner of Wild Mountain Cafe in the Crown Hill neighborhood of Seattle. When she reviewed the surveillance feeds from her restaurant, she saw two young men jumping the back fence of her business, and then breaking in. She immediately called 911.

I spent the following 10 to 15 minutes on the phone trying to get police there in time to catch them, and in the process, just was watching in real time two burglars going through my restaurant and not completely trashing the place, but definitely looking for something specific,” Aylesworth explained to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “And you know, it was very obvious they were after money and didn’t care too much about product or electronics or anything else, which is, you know, saving grace in the whole matter.

The two thieves stole about $5,000 in cash, which was earmarked for staff tips. And unfortunately, the two suspects escaped before police arrived.

It’s unclear the thieves’ ages, but judging from surveillance footage, they appear to be young. Despite the crime, though, Aylesworth doesn’t want them going to jail. They appear young enough to be course-corrected with intervention. She thinks community service would be more appropriate.

As is too often the case, the suspects are still on the loose.

Read the whole story here.

The business owner felt very violated and helpless. Stealing $5,000 in King County is a first-degree theft Class B felony crime. Jail time should be the punishment for these perps. Believing that community service will deter them is a product of the liberal mindset.

The Seattle Police Department is severely understaffed as they are at their lowest staffing level since 1958. Last year’s crime data showed that Seattle had a drop in overall crime yet a rise in homicides and auto thefts.

Despite spending over nearly $1 billion the past decade to “fix” homelessness, Seattle’s homeless population continues to rise. And their fentanyl crisis continues, when Washington State reported a 41% rise in drug overdose fatalities (between September 2022 and September 2023) — the highest increase in the United States.

But you keep voting blue, liberals of Washington. Y’all keep voting for this so embrace the suck. So glad I left you for a red territory.

DCG

Priorities for NYC democrats: Wigs, prosthetic penises and breasts for “trans” prisoners

New York City is having all kinds of problems due to democrats being in charge and their importing illegal aliens.

The New York Post reported last week that migrants are flooding the city’s justice system and they now make up 75% of arrests in midtown.

Seven months ago it was reported that a NYC neighborhood was turned into a giant toilet as migrants litter a park with poop and leave cups of urine on doorsteps.

Last June I reported on a townhall meeting with New York City Councilmember Crystal Hudson where residents were furious over crime occurring outside of a illegal alien shelter housing 3,000 men. At the time, Hudson blamed the mayor for a lack of support in dealing with the migrant crisis.

Councilmember Hudson prioritizing the mentally ill.

But don’t worry New York, Hudson is on top of the “migrant crisis” now. Her latest bill:

Trans prisoners to get wigs, prosthetic penises and breasts under Democrat bill

From The Daily Mail:

“Trans prisoners in New York City will have access to ‘gender-affirming’ devices such as prosthetic penises and breasts under a new bill proposed by a Democratic lawmaker.

Councilwoman Crystal Hudson’s bill would also give guards at NYC prisons access to items like breast binders, wigs and tucking undergarments, as first reported by the New York Post. Hudson is expected to introduce the bill during Thursdays city council meeting.

The legislation is backed by fellow Democratic councilmembers Farah N. Louis, Chi A. Ossé.

‘This bill would establish a process for people in custody to obtain wigs, hair extensions, chest binders, tucking undergarments or gaffs, prosthetics, or other similar items or medical devices that are used by individuals to affirm their self-determined gender identity,’ according to the NYC Council website.

‘The bill also requires Department of Correction staff to have access to gender-affirming items or medical devices while at work.’ According to the bill, it would be up to the NYC Department of Correction to decide who foots the bill for the gender-affirming care.”

Read the whole story here.

Good job New Yorkers in electing Hudson. You can safely sleep at night knowing that illegal aliens and trans people are being coddled with your tax dollars.

Remember in November:

DCG

Get out of California: Newsom’s budget will defund fighting crime

We all know about the crime in California. Get ready for things to get worse as it’s no doubt going to happen. From the Daily Mail:

California’s Dem. Gov Gavin Newsom unveils new plans to defund the police in crime-ridden state after massive budget deficit

In 2022 Newsom bragged of having a $97.5 billion surplus. Fast forward two years later and the state now faces a $45 billion deficit. Great job, democrats.

From the article:

California governor Gavin Newsom‘s proposed new budget would slash funding for the police as the state struggles with a massive deficit of at least $45 billion.

Last month the Democrat unveiled his budget for the next fiscal year, admitting that ‘difficult decisions’ are needed to address the state’s deficit – including a 1.6 percent reduction in the state’s Department of Justice’s overall funding.

The proposed budget includes a $97 million cut to trial court operations, $10 million to the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement and over $80 million to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as reported by Fox News. 

Newsom’s plan comes as major national stores and local businesses in California say they continue to face rampant theft. Videos of large-scale thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have often gone viral.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022. Across the state, shoplifting rates rose during the same time period but were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while commercial burglaries and robberies have become more prevalent in urban counties.

Meanwhile homelessness jumped 6 percent to more than 180,000 people in California last year, federal data show. And since 2013, the numbers have exploded by 53 percent with the state accounting for a third of America’s entire homeless population.

The state’s criminal justice record which saw the number of violent crimes jump by 27 percent between 2013 and 2022, and pickpocketing more than double.

Read the whole story here.

Voters in California about to learn the hard way:

DCG

Another one bites the dust: The North-Face closing hometown San Francisco store

San Francisco is failing. Due to progressive policies (soft-on-crime DAs, open-air drug use, Defund the Police movement, Prop 47, etc.) many businesses have shutdown their stores in San Francisco.

Now goes another:

The North Face is closing its only store in its hometown of San Francisco that’s situated in dying downtown area

From Daily Mail:

“San Francisco shoppers receive another shocking blow as another major retailer is all set to move away from the crime and drug ridden city. 

The North Face officials have announced that they will be closing the doors of their Union Square store on March 31.  Although the rock climbing and camping supply company was founded back in 1964 in this city, the Union Square store is the only location to exist. 

Hailey Albright, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement: ‘The North Face was born in San Francisco, and we have cherished the time spent here, building roots and creating lasting memories.’

The retailer has not provided a clear reason for the closure of the 180 Post Street store.”

Read the whole story here.

No “clear reason” is required on behalf of The North Face.

Earlier this week voters in San Francisco passed two ballot measures to take steps to curb homelessness, drug addiction and crime. The initiatives require drug screening for welfare recipients and give police more surveillance power and less oversight

But it may be too little, too late. After 60 years of democrat rule, it will probably take DECADES to undue the damage progressive polices have created for that city. Y’all learn too late:

DCG

Crime in Missouri: St. Louis frees hit & run driver who killed mom and daughter

St. Louis, Missouri has had a democrat mayor since 1949.  The previous Soros-backed district attorney, Kim Gardner, finally resigned in May 2023 after a serial criminal who had violated house arrest 51 times caused a teenage girl to lose both of her legs. Read that whole story here.

Yet since Gardner’s departure, criminals are still able to roam free in St. Louis. Example:

St Louis driver, 22, who killed two Drake fans in horror crash as they left concert is FREED on $20k bail

Victims Laticha Bracero and her daughter Alyssa Cordova

From The Daily Mail:

Horrific surveillance footage captured the moment a mom and daughter were fatally ran down by a speeding motorist running a red light – who has since been released on bail.

Laticha Bracero, 42, and her daughter Alyssa Cordova, 21, were leaving a Drake concert in St. Louis, Missouri on February 14 when driver Monte Henderson, 22, allegedly plowed into them at the intersection. Two other teen girls and a 61-year-old woman were also injured in the crash, which saw Henderson collide with several other vehicles as he blew through the lights. 

Free on bail: Perp Monte Henderson

Police say he was speeding at over 70mph when he allegedly caused the tragedy.

However, Judge Annette Llewellyn ignored a probable cause statement arguing he is a danger to the community, allowing him to be freed on a $20,000 bail, according to STL Today

Judge Annette Lewellyn

Reported court records showed he was freed on Friday morning after posting 10 percent of his $200,000 bondHe is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the deaths of the mother and daughter

Cops say he blew through the stop lights on Olive Street in the center of the city, with the footage showing the red light at the same time he sped past the intersection in his Jeep Grand Cherokee. He was seen travelling at a high rate of speed before initially colliding with the front bumper of another car, which led him to careen into Bracero and Cordova. 

Bracero was pronounced dead at the scene, and Cordova died shortly after being rushed to hospital, police said.” 

Read the whole tragic story here.

Just another reason to avoid large, democrat-run cities that favor defunding their police. And cities with Soros-backed district attorneys who coddle criminals. Your life may depend upon it.

DCG

Crime in Washington State: Store owner fends off robber with machete

How’s things going in democrat-run Washington State? Here’s a sample:

Fortunately a Tacoma store owner was able to defend himself against a robber who brought a knife to a fight. The store owner whipped out a machete!

Store Owner (on left) defends himself with a machete. Photo courtesy of Tacoma Poolice Facebook.

From MyNorthwest:

“A 70-year-old store owner fended off a knife-wielding robber by brandishing his own store’s defense system — a really big machete.

Naif Qatamin, the store owner, and his wife run Selena One Market in Tacoma. The business has been robbed before, with Qatamin using a stick for protection. A year ago, he upgraded to a machete, slotted right next to the register.

On Feb. 5, the store’s upgraded defense came in handy when a pocketknife-wielding robber walked to the register and announced, “This is a robbery. Do you understand?” Qaatamin understood, and from behind the counter, pulled his machete while saying, “That’s not a knife, this is a knife.”

“He backed up there,” Qatamin told KIRO Newsradio. “He was shocked and fell down right there.”

The suspected robber ran from the store, but was later caught by police. The next day, he was released from jail and returned to the store.

“He stood right there by the door and said ‘I’m going to come back, rob you and kill you.’ I said ‘One step inside and I’m going to fix you up.’ He put his foot down right there and I hit him right here,” Qatamin said, pointing to his chest.”

Read the whole story here.

Thanks to democrats’ soft-on-crime prosecutors, Defund the Police movement, and disdain of all guns, store owners are desperate to protect themselves.

Wise to stay away from the crime-infested blue cities these days. Your life may depend upon it.

DCG

Idiot Hubris – Vladimir Putin Says Alaska Really Belongs To Russia

 

Putin shouts trying to look tough – and failing!

From  The Hill

By Miranda Nazzaro,

The State Department on Monday brushed off reports of Russian Presi ordering his government to look into the nation’s former “real estate” abroad, saying Alaska would be staying in American hands.

Putin signed a new decree last week to allocate funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including that in former territories of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, Russian state media TASS reported .

The decree, which comes amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, did not specifically mention Alaska, though it caught the attention of military bloggers, who argued Putin was using the decree to declare the 1867 Russian sale of the Last Frontier State to the U.S. is illegal.

“Well, I think I can speak for all of us in the U.S. government to say that certainly he’s not getting it back,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a Monday press briefing , prompting laughter from his audience.

The Institute for the Study of War last week noted the “exact parameters of what constitutes current or historical Russia property are unclear.”

“The Kremlin may use the ‘protection’ of its claimed property in countries outside of its internationally recognized borders to forward soft power mechanisms in post-Soviet and neighboring states ultimately aimed at internal destabilization,” the institute wrote in an assessment of the Russian offensive campaign.

It pointed to a Telegram post from a military blogger who suggested Russia could start enacting the law in Alaska and parts of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Putin, in a 2014 question-and-answer with a studio audience, called the 1867 sale “inexpensive,” and argued people should “not get worked about it.”

“We can calculate the equivalent amount, but it was definitely inexpensive. Russia is a northern country with 70 percent of its territory located in the north and the far north. Alaska is not located in the southern hemisphere, either, is it? It’s cold out there as well. Let’s not get worked up about it, all right?” he said.

While Putin appeared to downplay the sale, Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov in December hinted at Moscow reclaiming its previous territories in the future.

“Did you want a new world order? Receive and sign. Venezuela annexed a 24th state, Guyana-Essequibo. This is happening right under the nose of the once great hegemon of the United States. All that remains is for Mexico to return Texas and the rest. It’s time for Americans to think about their future. And also about Alaska,” Mironov wrote on X , formerly Twitter, last month.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joked about the State Department’s response later Monday, writing on X , “According to a State Department representative, Russia is not getting back Alaska, which was sold to the U.S. in the 19th century. This is it, then. And we’ve been waiting for it to be returned any day. Now war is unavoidable,” with a laughing emoji attached.

~ Grif

 

How’s it going in San Francisco? Another large firm plans to leave the city

In July 2022 San Francisco Mayor appointed Brooke Jenkins as District Attorney. She promised at that time to “fight the city’s lawlessness.”

Apparently she’s not fighting hard enough to keep KPMG (accounting firm renting 100,000 square feet) in downtown San Francisco.

From Daily Mail:

KPMG moving out of $400million ‘KPMG building’ in downtown San Francisco with nearby besieged mall loses another tenant as doom loop continues

“Accounting firm KPMG is set to move out of its $400 million namesake building, another high-profile exit from San Francisco’s beleaguered downtown.

The consulting and accounting giant first leased space in the 25-story office tower when the building opened in 2002.  Its name hangs above the entry to the skyscraper where the company currently occupies more than 100,000 square feet. It comes as shoe store Alto prepares to exit San Francisco Centre, the city’s biggest mall, next week.

Businesses and residents have fled downtown San Francisco since the pandemic with groups blaming crimehomelessness and work-from-home keeping people from downtown. 

Nearly 100 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent, according to a recent report. 

KPMG, a large accounting and financial firm, originally took 90,000 square feet at 55 Second St. in a 10-year contract, marking the second-largest office deal of 2003. It has since grown its footprint to span nearly one-third of the 380,000-square-foot building, leading to it being widely known as ‘The KPMG Building’.

The company is now considering ending its two-decade-long relationship with the building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s the latest tenant looking to exit the downtown area. 

Now, another business is set to leave the area’s largest shopping center as Aldo moves its store from the San Francisco Centre. The mall lost Adidas last Saturday, as well as other recent losses including Hollister, Lego and J. Crew.”

Read the whole story here.

DA Brooke Jenkins isn’t trying hard enough to fight the “lawlessness” when the statistics from her first full year (2023) indicate that less than 50% of those arrested had cases filed against them and the “filing rate” and “action taken” rate are both declining.

With statistics like that, I guess San Francisco can expect more businesses to leave.

DCG

Cry Harder: Illinois Governor begs Greg Abbott to quit sending illegal aliens to his state

Illinois became a sanctuary state for illegal aliens in August 2017. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is sending illegal aliens to sanctuary states/cities since the border is wide open and a record number of people are illegally entering the U.S. Texcas cannot handle/house/give free stuff to all of them.

And now, surprise, surprise, apparently those who claimed to welcome all have had a change of heart.

Big Mad: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker

From Daily Mail:

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker begs for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants

Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker has begged his Texas counterpart Greg Abbott to stop busing migrants to Chicago as inclement weather is set to hit the Windy City this week.

The Democrat‘s request comes as new census numbers show Chicago has 4,468 more recently-arrived asylum seekers than previously thought, bringing the total number to 34,562.

‘While action is pending at the federal level, I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves,’ Pritzker wrote in a letter to the Republican send on Friday and seen by the Chicago Sun-Times.

‘Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state.’

Pritzker added that Abbott’s ‘callousness’ in flying or busing migrants to Chicago during the weather conditions was ‘now life-threatening to every one of the arrivals’ as temperatures are expected to plunge.

Gov. Abbott’s office replied by saying he will stop sending migrants to Chicago when the president “secures the border,” and claimed bus drivers were taking extra precautions due to the weather.”

Read the whole story here.

Good on Gov. Abbott!

DCG

NYC “rat czar” doing a bang up job…not!

NYC Rat Czar Kathleen Corradi

New York City has many problems, one of them being an out-of-control rat population. Mayor Adams appointed Kathleen Corradi as the “rat czar” in April 2023, with an annual salary of $155,000.

It’s been almost a year, so how are things going for Corradi in her new position? Just about how you’d expect:

Eric Adams’ war on rats ‘smoke and mirrors’ as NYC rodent complaints spike nearly 8%

From NY Post:

“Rodent complaints have spiked nearly 8% across New York City since Mayor Eric Adams took office — despite his ballyhooed multi-million dollar war on rats and vow from Day One to make headway against the vermin, troubling 311 data shows.

There were 41,748 rat sightings and other vermin-related complaints made through the city’s 311 hotline in 2023, up 1.5% from 41,120 a year before; up 7.6% percent from the 38,809 complaints fielded in 2021 during Bill de Blasio’s final year as mayor; and 32% more than the 31,644 complaints in 2019, a Post analysis of city records found.

For at least the fifth straight year, Brooklyn — where Adams previously served as borough president — was home to more rat complaints than any other NYC borough with 15,769, up 5% from 15,032 in 2022.”

Read the whole story here.

I’m fresh out of sympathy for these democrat-run cities. Y’all voted for this. They got one choice at this point since they never change their voting habits:

DCG