A good man dies in the north side of Minneapolis

News reports of international terrorism, global conflict, and internecine wars fill the newspaper front pages daily. The horrors can seem less immediate, even remote, to many of us ensconced here in the midwest of America. We do know, however, somewhere in the back of our minds, that it is only through blind luck that these events have not prevailed themselves upon us yet.

What we forget is that evil exists and has always been here, albeit on a different scale.

Martin Ruiz was an immigrant from Mexico, working long days, with his wife Paulina, at McDonalds to put food on the table for their family, which included 4 children. They are among the many hard-working people who work in the shadows, doing the work many of the rest of us wouldn't do. Mr. Ruiz' life would be essentially unnoticed by the larger community until May 27th, 2005. The Red Star reports:

Martin Ruiz and his wife, Paulina, had just walked off a bus in Minneapolis after a long day working at McDonald's when a man and a teenager started to follow them.

Lamarr "Lucky" Smith and Anthony R. Lee allegedly came out of the night and into the lives of the Ruiz family. Lamarr and Anthony, if proven to be the guilty parties, represent the other side of the community they share with the Ruiz family. They likely do not work or contribute to society, instead they represent the dark side, the evil that lurks on our city streets, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Lamarr and Anthony allegedly saw an opportunity at 10:30 pm at 39th and Dupont Ave N. in the Camden neighborhood of Minneapolis. They saw an opportunity to rob a young couple coming home from a long day at work.

According to the news report, Lamarr Smith was wearing a mask and had a long-barreled gun. He and his accomplice approached Mr. and Mrs. Ruiz. Lamarr took Paulina's bag, and rifled through Mr. Ruiz' pockets. We can only imagine the terror that Mr. and Mrs Ruiz experienced as they were confronted by the two animals. Mr. Ruiz did the right thing, and voluntarily gave up his wallet when it was demanded of him, and then he began to walk away. Lamarr allegedly shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly as Paulina watched.

A nexus of good and evil. A hard working man and woman confronted by the bottom scrapings of society. An innocent life taken for no reason.

It's difficult for good people to grasp the concept of wanton destruction of life in the pursuit of evil. What drives a man to become an animal? If found guilty, would Lamarr "Lucky" Smith and Anthony R. Lee be any different from Islamist terrorists, in that they prey on the good and innocent? There is arguably no difference.

Rambix is deeply saddened by this event. There are many good, hardworking people like Mr. Ruiz who toil in obscurity, who may be poor, and who may have many burdens to bear, but they manage to maintain their morality and human dignity. Rambix has enormous respect for those people.

Presumably the suspects shared many of the same burdens as the Ruiz family. They could have worked hard and taken advantage of the myriad opportunities available to the "disadvantaged". For reasons only they and God will know, they chose the dark path. And to no one's surprise, there is a violent criminal history:

On Thursday, Smith was charged in another case with first-degree aggravated robbery for allegedly putting a gun to the head of an acquaintance while taking money from him.

The public is currently safe from these monsters:

Smith and Lee are being held at Hennepin County jail in lieu of $1 million bail in Ruiz's death.

They are accountable to their maker, and this provides the only shred of satisfaction to arise from this crime. This horrible, inhuman crime.

Judicial activism? What judicial activism?

The leftists, liberals, socialists, communists, one-worlders, et. al., frequently deny that judicial activism exists. Judges deny it exists. Newspaper editorial boards deny it exists. Then we have this (Hat tip to Michelle Malkin):

Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian who sought to explode a Millennium Eve bomb at Los Angeles International Airport was sentenced to 22 years in prison today in U.S. District Court.

22 years. For a serious attempt to kill hundreds of people in an act of terrorism. On America's soil. What judge would give such a sentence? Judge John Coughenour, that's who.

Coughenour said this trial shows that the justice system in this country works.

"All of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial," Coughenour said. "There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel."

"The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security. . . Unfortunately some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete, " he said.

Could he be referring to the present administration? Do these comments belong at a sentencing hearing? Does the judge leave any doubt on which side his sympathies lie? This is prima facia evidence of judicial activism - the bench is not a bully pulpit. Judge, know your role and stick to it.

The hearing was marked by sharply different views on how to mete out justice for the would-be bomber. Prosecutors stressed that Ressam had gone back on an early pledge to cooperate and deserved a 35-year sentence.

Defense attorneys asked for less than 20 years.

Rambix would suggest that even the prosecution in this case is light on their request. Although Rambix is not a proponent of the death penalty (preferring a sentence life at hard labor in its place), the threat of terrorist attacks is real, immediate, and not diminishing. The terrorists don't care if they die, but they must respect a strong and unified response to their evil. For national security reasons, Rambix would not be opposed to sentencing actual or would-be terrorists to execution, which should be carried to conclusion swiftly.

Judges like Mr. Coughenour are a danger to our society. He claims to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, but he doesn't defend the United States itself. Extraordinary times calls for extraordinary measures, and we need judges who can draw the distinction.

Now that's a headline!

Hat tip to Powerline:


Rambix will eat his hat if the Red Star ever comes up with a headline such as this.

Martin Andrade's advice to new bloggers

Martin Andrade has some good advice on his blog for new, up-and-coming bloggers. One of the suggestions is to visit liberal blogs:

One thing I like to do is frequent liberal blogs and get into flamewars in their comments section. This is fun, and it typically will get you a few extra hits a day.

While there's no question that flamewars are fun, visiting liberal blogs is not appealing. Rambix has ventured into the more well-known leftist screeds, such as the Daily Kos and Wonkette, and while it's eye-opening to see how the often vile and sophomoric left thinks, it's difficult to read. They just don't think like normal people.

That said, Martin's advice is probably good. It's good to know your opponent. Rambix will make a concerted effort to survey the enemy camps on occasion and report back, so you don't have to!

Minnesota Democrat criminal list grows

Try as they might, the Red Star could not bury the story of yet another DFL criminal conviction. The did manage to relegate it to the "Metro/State" section (of course we know that if it had been a Republican, say Michelle Bachman, it would have been on the front page, above the fold). Even with the weasely placement, the Strib made sure to keep "DFL" or "liberal" out of the big print. In the paper version of the story, the newly minted liberal felon is not identified as a DFLer until paragraph 3.

The title of the paper version of the report is "Jennings found guilty of fraud". The online version is "Former Rep. Jennings convicted of fraud". Does anyone not believe that had this been a Republican, the online title would read "Former GOP Rep. Jennings convicted of fraud"?

HAT TIP to Anti-Strib (although if you visit his page, you may go blind by viewing the picture immediately south of the Jennings post).

By the way, Rambix really likes Tom Heffelfinger, the U.S Attorney (this was a federal case). He is a practical, common sense guy:

U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger called the verdicts "a just decision under the law. Any public official who violates a public trust is subject to consideration by us for possible prosecution," he said.

Heffelfinger has some better quotes in other cases, but you get the idea. He seems to get the job done, and done well.

BONUS!

Here's a Minnesota DFL/liberal criminals list that Rambix has been accumulating, and has posted in the past:

To no one's surprise, various liberals are cheating, stealing, lying, and, thankfully, going to prison where they belong.

From various sources:

1) Former state DFL Sen. Winston "Win" Borden was sentenced today to serve 27 months in prison for failing to pay federal income taxes for the past six years. (10/27/04 Pioneer Press) CONVICTED!

2) State DFL Rep. Phyllis Kahn pleaded guilty to theft on Thursday for stealing campaign literature. Hennepin County District Judge Stephen Aldrich ordered Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, to pay $200 in prosecution costs but agreed to defer any additional sentence for a year and dismiss the misdemeanor charge then if she has no similar violations. (9/24/04 Star Tribune) PLED GUILTY, FINED!

3) A federal grand jury indicted former state DFL Rep. Loren Jennings on Tuesday on charges of mail fraud and money laundering and accused him of using the power of his legislative office to steer $650,000 in state grant money to a telephone-pole recycling business in which he had a financial interest.
(10/20/04 Star Tribune) CONVICTED!

4)A Minnesota sports entrepreneur who was awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction is in jail after allegedly lying to try to borrow more money. Pat Forciea [Former DFL operative], 46, had pleaded guilty in July to fraud charges involving more than $5.6 million in bank loans he used to buy minor league hockey teams. [snip] In July Forciea admitted engineering a spree of wire fraud, forgeries and unauthorized cash transfers in an attempt to build a minor league hockey and baseball empire. His plan collapsed after one of his employees uncovered falsified business documents that inflated the worth of one of his hockey teams. (11/6/04 Pioneer Press) CONVICTED!

5) Brian Herron, Minneapolis City Council member served prison time for corruption. CONVICTED!

6) Joe Biernat, Minneapolis City Council member is presently serving prison time for corruption.
CONVICTED!

7) The Federal Elections Commission has fined the Minnesota House Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus $45,000 for campaign finance violations. The FEC ruled the House DFL caucus illegally transferred $69,200 between its state and federal campaign accounts between January and October 2002. FINED!

8. Twenty-first Century Democrats, a national political action committee that was active in Minnesota this year, has received a record fine for failing to disclose its donors to state regulators. Two fines, totaling $317,950, were announced Tuesday by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. (12/22/04 Pioneer Press) FINED!

Whew! That's it for now. The list was dormant for awhile, so if we missed some, let us know the story and the source, and we'll update the post.

***UPDATE***

MORE, thanks to GOP Newsline:

~Rep. Allan Welle misused the state's phone card and started a scandal known as "phonegate."

~Sen. Joe Bertram shoplifted a leather vest from a store in his district.

~Rep. Jeff Bertram was brought before the House Ethics Committee for bullying his constituents.

~Rep. Bob Johnson accumulated three drunk driving charges in three different counties in less than one year.

~Sen. Florian Chmielewski and Sen. Sam Solon pleaded guilty to misdemeanor telecommunications fraud.

~Sen. Skip Finn was convicted of twelve felony counts of misapplying funds from the Leech Lake Reservation.

Red Star: foggy glasses

Sometimes the Red Star comes close to seeing the world as it really is, such as in today's editorial "Bombs/The terrorist threat goes global". But they just can't seem to put all the pieces together, and they also can't resist a shot at the Bush administration (Recall that the Strib has long ago given up any pretense of objectivity - they are committed leftists, and proud of it). They get this part right:

"It's not Al-Qaida against whom we struggle, in the main. It's a larger, more diffuse and thus more difficult enemy: radical Islam."

Then they list recent terror targets, albiet with a glaring omission:

"The list grows: New York and Washington, Bali, Riyadh, Casablanca, Istanbul, Madrid, Taba, London, Sharm el-Sheik. This is not to mention the dozens of attacks daily in occupied Iraq."

How about Isreal? Think they've seen any terrorist attacks? Do the Palestinian homicide bombers qualify as radical Islamists? Rambix believes those that choose to blow themselves and women and children up are automatically members of the club. But no mention by the Red Star.

"Why is it in the United States that deaths by terrorism in London so transfix us while deaths in Sharm el-Sheik or Baghdad are recorded but not tarried over? The difference in reaction should inform us about human nature, and allow us to understand other perspectives. Life isn't cheap for any culture, but loss of life is more comprehensible, more immediate, if it is from within our own culture -- no less for others than for those from the West."

The Red Star editors can't see the forest for the trees. We are transfixed by the Sharm el-Sheik and Baghdad terror; it's not us reporting it, it's you, Red Star, the main stream media!

More from the Red Star:

"Cleaning up Afghanistan's Al-Qaida training grounds made sense. But continually mobilizing armies does not help, and in the invasion of Iraq, it only hurt, by creating so many more potential bombers."

Fuzzy thinking and willful ignorance of the facts. We cleaned up terror camps in Iraq; why is that a good thing in Afghanistan, but not important in Iraq? And the hapless editors still don't understand the concept of taking the war to the enemy? What would Al-Zarquawi and his minions be doing if we didn't invade? They'd be plotting terror on America's soil. Again.

Mi casa es su casa

***UPDATE***

Fugitive goes down with a whimper:

"After Chaska police asked for the public's help to catch him, police arrested Carlos Ivan Arroba early Tuesday morning. Apparently, he was found drunk in Watertown pounding on doors...He is now in Carver County Jail."

***UPDATE***

Carlos means well, he really does. He just had to "borrow" some guns from a Chaska residence to, uh, well he's not saying just yet:

"Arroba has been known to associate with known gang members and methamphetamine users. He is likely carrying at least one pistol and is considered armed and dangerous.

The stolen pistols include a silver .357 caliber semi-auto, a blue/black .45 caliber semi-auto, and a black .22 caliber semi-auto."

He's really just misunderstood. He's a niiiice gangster.

"Arroba is a Hispanic male about six feet tall and weighs around 160 pounds. He has green eyes, and black hair, but his head is usually shaved. He has a large tattoo on his back that says "Arroba" and has a face underneath it (cute!). He has been known to drive many different vehicles".

Well there you have it. A fun tattoo and a love for a diversity of vehicles. Sounds like a decent chap.But for some reason, the police would like to talk with young Carlos, so if you see him, give them a call.

Minneapolis crimewatch follow-up

Rambix reported on this story June 8, 2005. Good news - the scumbag is bagged. Here's the Red Star Story:

"Minneapolis police arrested a man suspected of raping a woman near St. Anthony Main and another woman in Bloomington.

Police picked him up Wednesday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport when he returned from Mexico, said Capt. Rich Stanek."

As is the Red Star custom, when the suspect is a minority, identifying information is suppressed until they can't hold it back any longer. Since the suspect was arrested returning from Mexico, we assume he's Mexican. The Red Star is loathe to implicate a minority in a crime. If the suspect was white, we'd know his name, date of birth, and shoe size.

Now Rambix knows that the vast majority of Mexicans are good people, and Rambix does not entertain racist inferences, but one wonders if some governments send their criminal elements to America due to our policies of uber-tolerance and political correctness. Does the Muriel boat lift from Cuba ring any bells?

This is scary stuff, and the police did yeoman's work getting this rat off the streets:

"In the Minneapolis case, a woman in her early 20s was approached from behind about 10:15 p.m. June 3 as she went to her car, which was near the entertainment district at 2nd Street and 3rd Avenue SE., Stanek said. She was taken to another car, where she was raped, stabbed and tied up, he said."

These crimes occurred in popular and well-traveled parts of town; this is what makes them so egregious. The police are doing what they can, but we need the courts to follow suit. Give these dirtbags something to worry about.

On another note, how would you feel if you learned this rat came from Mexico illegally? Nothing burns Rambix more than criminals coming from other countries to cause mayhem here in the US of A. They ought to throw the book at this guy. Let's hope for some quick justice.

Tough judge? One predator, 4 dead

Rambix has previously posted on the story of child molester/predator Joseph Edward Duncan III of Fargo, ND (see here), a story which, if nothing else, has served to expose an egregious breach of duty by the public institutions that exist to protect us.

A 7/22/05 AP story, via KSTP News follows up on the judge who let the sewer rat Duncan go free on $15,000 bail following the molestation of a 6 year old boy in Detroit Lakes, MN. The judge is embattled for his decision, and is likely feeling significant heat. Paradoxically, he's universally described as one of the toughest judges in the 7th District:

"A judge who's under fire for allowing sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III to go free on bail is regarded locally as so tough that defendants try to avoid him, defense attorneys say.

Judge Thomas Schroeder has been removed from 98 court cases in the past year, more than any other judge on a list compiled by Minnesota's 7th Judicial District."

Is the judge's tough reputation warranted? Let's examine the setting of bail.

"The transcript shows that Schroeder was told during the hearing that Duncan, 42, of Fargo, N.D., was a convicted sex offender. But no one at the hearing described Duncan specifically as a Level 3 sex offender - the type considered most likely to reoffend - and Schroeder has said he didn't know then that Duncan was a Level 3."

According to media reports, the judge knew that Duncan was a convicted sex criminal (Rambix prefers the word "criminal" to the word "offender"), albiet not a Level 3, the highest level, meaning he has a high potential to "re-offend". The judge also knew the instant charge - alleged molestation of a 6 year old boy.

What the judge professes not to have known is the history of homosexual rape, including 17 years in prison for raping a 14 year old boy at gunpoint. Here's a narrative from the North Dakota Sex Offender web site:

"1ST DEGREE RAPE - DUNCAN RAPED A 14 YEAR OLD BOY AT GUNPOINT. HE BURNED THE VICTIM WITH A CIGARETTE AND MADE THE VICTIM BELIEVE HE WAS GOING TO BE KILLED BY FIRING THE GUN TWICE ON EMPTY CHAMBERS. DUNCAN WAS TERMINATED FROM TREATMENT, SERVED A LENGTHY PRISON SENTENCE, WAS PAROLED, AND THEN ABSCONDED. DUNCAN HAD A LONG HISTORY OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION AS A YOUTH."

Let's assume the judge didn't have all the facts, and for some reason could not have accessed the history, had he inquired. Is $15,000 bail sufficient based on the alleged molestation of a 6 year old boy? Typically with bail, one can pay 10% to a bail bondsman, who fronts the balance on the agreement that the defendant will show up in court. In this case it would be $1500, with the bail bondsman making up the $13,500 difference. Bail is supposed to be set so that it would be financially painful for the defendant to abscond.

Duncan not only met the bail, he paid the entire $15,000 by personal check, then promptly fled, and was free to allegedly do the following:

"Duncan then left the area and is now charged with killing three people at an Idaho home. Authorities also allege he kidnapped 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her brother, 9-year-old Dylan and sexually assaulted them. Shasta was discovered with Duncan July 2. Dylan's body was found a few days later."

The prosecutors requested $25,000 bail. Rambix submits that $15,000 bail is a slap in the face of the victims, and is an egregious error in judgement on Judge Schroeder's part. The $25,000 requested by the prosecutors was also too low. Even with only the charge at hand known, bail should have been set 10-20 times higher. Tough judge or not, Schroeder really fouled this one up.

If the judge and the prosecutors had known the full history of sewer rat Duncan, obviously no bail should have been offered. And why didn't they know the history? If Duncan had gone to apply for credit, or a job, it would be tough to hide 17 years in prison. Why didn't the criminal justice system have access to that information?

There was an egregious breach of public trust which resulted in the murder and rape of innocents. Rambix understands it's a tough business for the judge and court to do the right thing, and get it right every time. But when in doubt, do we not need to err on the side of the victim and the general public? Do the judge and the prosecutors have blood on their hands? Rambix leaves that to the reader to decide.

Air America's new ad campaign

Air America's ratings are up, up, up! Flush with cash, the Minneapolis affiliate, KTNF-AM 950 AM, has embarked on a new ad campaign at a freeway offramp in Edina, Minnesota:

Speaking of crime spike...

New Minneapolis police press release follows. This is the point Rambix has been trying to make lo these many months - the neighborhood described is borderline, but is within a 9-iron of very nice neighborhoods. In other words, it's closing in. Will you read about this in a prominent space in the Red Star?

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT

NEWS MEDIA RELEASE


OFFENSE: DOA CCN # : 05-197180


DATE: 07-21-2005 TIME: 0925 hours


LOCATION: 3216 Garfield Avenue South


VICTIM*: Adult female AGE: Unknown


GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES OR INCIDENT:

Workers were conducting repairs inside the above abandoned house and discovered the body of a decease female victim. The victim has not been identified. We are waiting confirmation of the victim’s identification from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner (ME).

Minneapolis Homicide Unit and the ME continue their investigation.

NO OTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

Southwest (Minneapolis) Journal reports Minneapolis crime spike

The Red Star does report crime, but in many cases does so in an oblique way. Some of the favored techniques used by the Red Star when reporting crime include: suppressing characteristics of the criminals, most often by omitting the race descriptive; minimizing or excusing criminal behavior through word choice, narrative techniques, and omission of pertinent facts or background information; and the use or non-use of photos, depending on the criminal involved. A photo of a black suspect is typically supressed unless the article is about a high-profile crime, in which case the photo may be smaller than expected, and so on.

Rambix has discovered that reporting of crimes that may affect a substantial part of the local community can be found in alternate publications, such as the Southwest Journal of Minneapolis. A July 15, 2005 web story in the Southwest Journal is titled "Southwest's crime spike: Real or Not?", by Robin Repya. Ms. Repya reports on the robbery of a local market:

"Dean Alnizami, owner of the Bryant Avenue Market, 3200 Bryant Ave. S., has owned the building for more than 15 years but said his recent crime experience was out of the ordinary.

In early May a masked man entered the market at approximately 8:20 p.m. and demanded money from Alnizami, who was talking with a friend in the store. "First he said, 'Give me the money.' We thought he was joking," he said.

It was then, Alnizami said, that he caught a glimpse of the robber's shotgun and handed over between $400 and $500 from the store register."

More:

"Some serious crimes are unquestionably up. For example, aggravated assaults have risen 25 percent from 2004, and are up 8 percent versus 2002-2004 averages. This year, there have been 114 such reports through June 28."

How well does the Red Star report the crime spike? This gentlemen from southwest Minneapolis apparently only reads the Red Star, and not Rambix, who has been reporting the crime spike since early spring 2005:

"Keith Luckritz, a CARAG resident, said he's was upset by the Bryant Market robbery, and it's made him and other residents more vigilant about attending neighborhood Crime and Safety Committee meetings. "That kind of juiced me up a bit," he said. "I'm concerned people don't know about it.""

"Livability crimes" are important to focus on, because these affect the masses of people that descend on Uptown, the lakes, and downtown Minneapolis from other areas:

"Stevens Square Community Organization Safety Coordinator Dave Delvoye said he had seen more "livability" crimes such as drugs, prostitution and narcotics activity in his area since December."

Why are they getting out of prison? Does the following make any sense?

"Niziolek (City Counccil member), a former civilian Crime-Prevention Specialist for the Minneapolis police, sees other reasons for rising crimes. He claims that there's been a spike in the population ages 14 to 24, the group most likely to commit crime. Also, he said, offenders are being released from prison in "record numbers," and there's been a reduction of officers on the street.

According to state Department of Corrections records, inmate releases have been on the rise. In 2002, there were 3,930 inmates arrested, but in 2003 and 2004, the annual release numbers topped 6,000."

Would it be too much to ask to keep the criminals in prison longer, reduce or eliminate incentives for imported criminals from Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan to stay out of our state, and to keep the cops off the short leash so they can do their jobs? This is what happens when liberals run the city. Does anyone remember the incredible success of Giuliani's "broken windows" approach to crime in NYC? Why can't we duplicate that here in Minneapolis?

How to generate liberal hate mail

The Red Star's best columnist, Katherine Kersten, can write about cute babies or flower gardens or anything, and the liberal's heads will explode. Roughly half the letters to the editor the day following the printing of her columns are from the foggy-brained socialists. Complete leftist meltdown can be achieved when she writes a column like she did 7/18/05, called "Roots of gang violence feed off '60s". It is, in typical fashion, a document of truth and clarity, and it really hits a nerve with much of the left, who are generally products of the 60s.

Ms. Kersten lays out for the left what many conservatives instinctively know - the 1960s was a seminal decade for the now-pervasive cultural decline and the decimation of viable institutions of moral authority.

"Americans of all social backgrounds are still dealing with the fallout of the '60s. But when middle-class kids experiment with marijuana or sexual promiscuity, they can generally rally and survive. Most have the social, educational and financial resources to get back on track.

But the '60s revolution encouraged behavior that prevents the poor from overcoming their disadvantages. The sexual revolution, coupled with welfare policy, has decimated the family in underclass neighborhoods. There, drugs overwhelm their users instead of providing Friday night entertainment. When people's lives are already on the edge, irresponsible behavior can send them off the cliff."

It's all too common in the inner city to see aimless, able-bodied teenage males and adult males hanging around all day long with nothing to do, no jobs, no direction. The "Great Society" programs instituted by liberals over the last several decades have "enabled" a large percentage of "disadvantaged" people to become dependent on the government. The results are obvious.

Ms. Kersten really hits home with this piece. The left doesn't like being told, yet again, that they are wrong, wrong, wrong. Rambix is really glad that someone of Mr. Kersten's credentials had the fortitude to write such a piece. She's an asset to the Red Star, and should be read often by those on both sides of the aisle.

For an in-depth look at the folly and disasterous effects of welfare programs, Rambix recommends James L. Payne's Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More from the Poor-And from Ourselves

Minneapolis crime redux

Scott Johnson of Powerline wrote an article in the Weekly Standard's Daily Standard for 7/18/05, titled "Return to Murderapolis". The content of the well-written article is a large part of what Rambix and the Red Star is all about (See archive). This is what happens to a once-great city when the hardcore liberals and leftists take over. Let's hope for a sea-change and some sanity before it's too late.

We invite you in our country, and this is how you behave

The Red Star staff loves criminals, and frequently runs stories which have an overt agenda, which typically involves garnering public sympathy for the societal misfit of the week. (In the interest of full disclosure, Rambix harbors no sympathy and very little compassion for those who choose to victimize society, especially when they are a guest of our country, or receive benefit of our largesse in one way or another).

Today's Red Star hero is actually a figure from the past, Keyse Jama, convicted felon. The Strib doesn't disappoint in their mission to put a friendly face on felon Jama in today's profile. It seems there are some problems getting Mr. Jama back to Somalia on deportation orders, as they have no government, and no single authority to accept his return. Mr. Jama's case, as you may recall, reached the Supreme Court, which correctly ruled that he can be returned to the feverswamp from whence he came. The government tried to return Mr. Jama through an intermediary, but he was rejected.

"After serving a brief sentence for third-degree assault in 1999, Jama lost his refugee status. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) detained him for deportation. His lawyers argued that he could not be deported to war-torn Somalia, a country with no formal government in place to accept him. A Minneapolis district court ruled in his favor, then the appeals court against him. Jama brought his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in January on a 5-4 vote that he could be deported."

He served a "brief sentence" for third degree assault, and then has been kept in jail for more than 4 years while the government was working on his deportation. Hmmm. Shouldn't he have been in jail or prison for that whole time for the crime anyway? 3rd degree assault is serious business. Maybe lenient judges are one reason why this criminal is in Minnesota in the first place.

Here's Mr. Jama's reaction upon being released from prison:

"Today is my lucky day," Jama said, grinning from an armchair in the sparely (sic) furnished Woodbury home of his aunt and uncle as Ayub shyly mugged with a pair of Harry Potter eyeglasses (ed. - isn't that just the cutest?).

Rambix finds this part hard to believe:

"...Jama described the Washington County guards as sympathetic. "When I left, they were shouting, 'Ja-ma!, Ja-ma!' "he said."

Mr. Jama, we have enough criminals here in Minnesota already, thank you very much. We're not opposed to "foreigners" coming to our state legally to live and work, but if you choose to be a criminal, then you're out. Illinois and Michigan are keeping us plenty busy with the criminal pipeline to our generous state. Therefore, begone with ye.

Judical watch

Just in case you were wondering what Hennepin County, MN judges are up to, here's an alleged murderer happy to be free:

Full Name:
SKELTON, JEFFREY .DAVID
Booking Number:
2005018205
Date of Birth:
10/22/1954
Sheriff's Custody:
RELEASED FROM CUSTODY ON . 7/12/2005 . 20:19
Housing Location:
Received Date/Time:
6/30/2005.. 15:53
Arrested By:
HCSO
Case/Count
Description of Charge
Charged By
Reason for Arrest
Severity of Charge
State of Charge
Bail Information
Court Appearance Date/Time
Court Appearance Location
1/1
MURDER 2ND DEGREE
MOUND PD
BENCH WARRANT
FELONY
BOND REINSTATED
$750,000CR BY DC
7/28/2005..13:30
DOWNTOWN Address
1/2
MURDER 2ND DEGREE
MOUND PD
BENCH WARRANT
FELONY
BOND REINSTATED
$0CR BY DC
7/28/2005..13:30
DOWNTOWN Address
1/3
TERRORISTIC THREATS
MOUND PD
BENCH WARRANT
FELONY
BOND REINSTATED
$0CR BY DC
7/28/2005..13:30
DOWNTOWN Address
1/4
TERRORISTIC THREATS
MOUND PD
BENCH WARRANT
FELONY
BOND REINSTATED
$0CR BY DC
7/28/2005..13:30
DOWNTOWN Address

Minneapolis crime update (You won't see this in the Red Star)

From the Minneapolis police, 5th precinct:

We had 4 robberies this past week (July 5-11) in our Sector.

1xx block of E Lake Street on 7-5-05 at 11:30 am. Victim cashed a check and got into his car where he was met by a suspect with a gun. Suspect is B/M, 36-38 years old, 5’ 5” to 5’ 6” with a long thin goatee and a thin mustache.

1x W 35th Street on 7-5-05 at 2:00 pm. Victim was approached on the sidewalk by 2 suspects and money was demanded with the threat of a knife. Suspect is B/M, 16-25 years old, and a B/F 16-25 years old.

31st St/Pillsbury Av S on 7-9-05 at 2:15 am. Victims had suspects come up to their car and pulled a gun and got into the car. Money was demanded. Suspects B/M 6’ 1” to 6’ 3” and East Indian Female @ 5’ 7”.

30xx Irving Av S. on 7-10-05 at 12:25 am. Victim had her purse forcibly taken from her. Suspects 2 White or Hispanic males.

Out late celebrating diversity - blog props

Rambix reads, enjoys, and learns from various blogs representing all viewpoints. Ok, make that only right-wing screeds. All too often, we take these offerings for granted; they're free after all! So here's some blog props to a select few, not all-inclusive:

Big daddy, Little Green Footballs. If Charles got a dollar a hit, he'd be, well, rich. Great posts keep us up to date on the Islamofascists and the liberals who support them.

Props to Powerline, with the wavy flag. Somewhere in New Mexico a supercomputer is calculating their daily hit count. That kind of action means these guys are good.

Love the local/national mix of these smart, smart bloggers. I always learn something at Fraters Libertas, SCSU Scholars, Captains Quarters, Lileks, and Shot in the Dark.

Any blogger that exposes the hypocrisy and foolishness of the Red Star is going to be on my short list. The no-holds-barred Anti-Strib is a daily read for Rambix.

There are so many more great reads out there, it's impossible to list them all. Everyone contributes an interesting slice, and together they become a serious counterweight to the pompous and arrogant MSM. Here's to the "right" bloggers!



*Image courtesy of thoseshirts.com

The face of the enemy

How can one read this and not get fighting mad?

"AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS -- The Muslim extremist on trial in the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh confessed Tuesday, saying he was driven by religious conviction. "I don't feel your pain," he told the victim's mother.

Mohammed Bouyeri stunned the courtroom when, in the final minutes of his two-day trial, he declared: "If I were released and would have the chance to do it again ... I would do exactly the same thing." Some spectators rose to their feet as he spoke, visibly stunned by his comments.

"What moved me to do what I did was purely my faith. ... I was motivated by the law that commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his prophet," he said."

Can we please start getting serious about these creatures? Real serious?

Good news, good news, good news

Today's Red Star is bristling with good news for conservatives, and vindication of Bush's economic policies.

The local (Minneapolis/St. Paul), housing market is going great guns.

"No popping sounds -- yet. Six months into the 2005 real estate market, sales are running neck-and-neck with last year's record numbers. Sale price increases are rising at a moderate pace that will help keep a real estate bubble at bay."

The state ends the fiscal year with a nice cushion!

"The Department of Finance reported Monday that higher-than-expected income tax and corporate tax collections accounted for most of the gains. During fiscal year 2005, Minnesota brought in more than $14.2 billion in taxes, above the $13.9 billion officials were anticipating."

"Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit", from the New York Times. This article appeared in the Red Star print edition, but we don't see it in the online edition.

"WASHINGTON, July 12 - For the first time since President Bush took office, an unexpected leap in tax revenue is about to shrink the federal budget deficit this year, by nearly $100 billion.

On Wednesday, White House officials plan to announce that the deficit for the 2005 fiscal year, which ends in September, will be far smaller than the $427 billion they estimated in February."

Score some big points for conservative fiscal management. Now if we can get the president and congress to reign in the spending, we'll be in the black in no time.

St. Paul indoctrinates socialist leftists teachers

The front page of the Red Star today features a large photo of a future teacher wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt. Why does that not surprise us? Would conservatives have a collective heart attack if the prospective teacher wore a Reagan t-shirt? We think so. Here's the accompanying story.

If this article is indicative of what we can expect for our children in public school, we're in worse shape than expected. It's all about feelings. There is no air of authority for the teachers, and frankly, they don't seem to want it. This is very troubling. In case you aren't a believer, here's a series of quotes from Nouchie Xiong, another future teacher:

"At 4 feet 11, Xiong is no taller than most of these students, but it's obvious she's the teacher. Sitting cross-legged with her students on a carpet woven with a map of the world, Xiong pressed for feedback.

"Who is this Nouchie [pronounced NOO-chee] chick?" Xiong said, in the voice of a belligerent teen. "I kept worrying about what you'd think of me."

When the air conditioner provided the only sound heard for five long seconds, Xiong was determined to end the stillness.

"If I'm going too fast, tell me. Just tell me how you feel."

Finally, some feedback.

"You're doing a good job so far."

"It's cool that you try to make classtime fun."

Still wanting more, Xiong told everyone to hold their breath for a few seconds and to say whatever they wanted to once they released it.

"I want to see some deep breaths here," Xiong said amid laughter. "Hold it in."

The activity must have revved up 12-year-old Anny Vang, one of the quietest students.

"I think it's good that you're pushing us so that we're prepared for what's ahead," Vang said."

Kids as pals and buddies of teachers? Teachers teaching feelings, not facts? We're in a world of trouble.

Pickin' & grinnin' in liberalville

Straight out of the Minneapolis PD - crime! right in the heart of liberalville, where the clipped haired, mean-faced women with dangly earrings reside. A 7/11/05 email alert from the Minneapolis police:

Thefts from persons are up recently due to suspects targeting shoppers in area stores. Victims have been reported in cases at Cub foods (60th/Nicollet) and Walgreen’s (54th/Lyndale). In these cases, the suspect engages a conversation with the victim, getting their full attention, while the other suspect lifts the wallet from an open purse or pickpockets the victim. Many of the shoppers don’t even realize anything was stolen until they are at the checkout register.

Suspects were arrested this weekend using a stolen credit card from one of these incidents. Even though arrests have been made, it’s important for shoppers to protect themselves against this crime.

Here are some tips to protect you from becoming a victim:

Carry your purse next to your body, with the flap or clasp towards you. Never leave it unattended in a shopping cart. (ed. - Always keep your Glock on your person, however)

A wallet should be kept in your front pocket, not your back pocket. (ed. - That's right, your back pocket is for your Shuriken throwing star)

Pay attention when someone approaches you with a simple question, like “do you know the time?” (ed. - Suggested response: "Do I look like a freaking clock?")

Consider leaving your purse at home! Carry your cash, credit cards and identification in your front pocket. (ed. - No, no - the backup Beretta goes in the front pocket)

If you become a victim, notify the store manager and report it to the police as soon as possible. (ed. - Shoot first, ask questions later. Victimhood is purview of liberals)


J******* N****
Crime Prevention Specialist
Minneapolis Police Department

And the suspects are...? Height? Weight? Race? Gender?? Anything??

And isn't the definition of a conservative a liberal who has been mugged? Maybe there's hope.

Downtown Minneapolis crime - some offended by stats

In a July 9, 2005 Red Star article, on the "Safe Zone", reporter David Chanen details the apparent drop in serious crime following an initiative which, among other things, puts more officers on the street, has more officers walking beats, focuses on chronic offenders, and has something called "roving concierges". In other words, they're dumping more resources into the hot spots. Not an unproven strategy, but it cannot be sustained indefinitely because of finite funding. Other initiatives:

"The City Attorney's Office recently developed several changes to respond more effectively to misdemeanors. Public urination and drug paraphernalia possession were added to the list of offenses that require a court date, and misdemeanor offenders are no longer automatically released without bail. Homeless offenders get an immediate court date to decrease the chance that their case will result in a warrant for not appearing."

The interesting part is that Mr. Chanen, or the editor, inserts what appears to be an unsourced opinion into the news article:

"While the report said the results were promising, it also raised concerns that 70 percent of the people arrested were black and that 60 percent of the alleged offenders who received citations didn't pay fines or appear in court."

Raised concerns by whom? By the reporter? By the Red Star editor?

If police are out arresting those folks who choose criminal behavior, and if 70% of those same people are black, isn't the issue the high rate of criminal behavior among blacks in the given area? The concern over the high number of black arrests in this case should result in introspection in the black community over the anti-social behavior of such a large percentage of blacks proportional to their representation in the downtown Minneapolis area, not how many blacks the police "choose" to arrest.

Facts are facts. When the police are under the microscope, as they are, all they want to do is arrest the criminals. If the criminals turn out to be a large part of one racial makeup or another, then we shouldn't in the least insinuate that it has anything to do with the choices the police make as to who to arrest, which is what the Red Star is doing - and we'll tell you the reason.

As noted on numerous occasions throughout this blog, the Red Star is a champion of minimizing, sympathizing with, and justifying, criminals and criminal behavior. Here's the explanation of how they do it. Instead of saying "it also raised concerns that 70 percent of the people arrested were black", they should say "it also raised concerns that 70 percent of the people committing the crimes were black".

See how that works? In the printed paragraph, the reporter mininizes the behavior of the black suspect. The police are essentially implicated for arresting too many blacks. In the Rambix edited quote, the blame for the criminal action falls squarely on the criminal, which is where it should be. It's not about the police, or race, it's about the criminal behavior.

This is how the Strib twists reporting and engages in social engineering. And that is why Rambix is here, to make sure they don't get away with it.

Hell filling up

PARIS - Satan held a news conference earlier today at the Hotel Verneuil, 8 rue de Vernueil, Paris 7th, at 1400 hours, GMT. The minister of darkness, nattily dressed for the occasion in a fine red robe of silk-like material, called the world's attention to the growing problem of overcrowding in Hell. "It's just too damn packed in there; there's not enough space for all the new arrivals!"

Satan, who indicated a preference for being referred to as "El Diablo", answered questions from reporters. The transcript follows:

Q: Why now? You've been in business for a long time, what's the problem all of the sudden?

El Diablo: Thanks, Rick. Well, we were doing just fine, but the new arrivals have really been accelerating lately. I just think we're going to run out of room before we know it, and I want to get the word out while there's time. Some people kind of have their heads in the sand, and think this is just much ado about nothing, but we probably have another 30 years or so, and then, that's it - no more room. Imagine the logistical nightmare!

Q: Please tell us your theory on the spike in new business.

El Diablo: Good question, Katie. Love your show, by the way. We could use your kind of talent down there. Anyway, things really started steamrolling last century. We got a bunch of German and Japanese guys about the same time - that was a quagmire, let me tell you! Then the commies came, a bunch of hippies a little later, anarchists, you know, the usual ...

(cuts in) Q: That was a long time ago, why the concern now?

El Diablo: Yes, yes, I'm getting to that. Some time in the 1990s we started getting a s**tload, oops, sorry about the language, a boatload of these middle eastern types. Every one of 'em came down, really cocky and (inaudible). Big grins on their faces, talking about 72 virgins and things like that. My staff started getting fed up with these guys, they had kind of a holier-than-thou attitude, and that doesn't go over too well down here. So basically, I would go up to them and tell them, hey, there's no women, just pigs! You can have all the pigs you want! Ha ha ha! They weren't too amused. We had a bunch of pigpens and stuff - we had them pushing slop around and sleeping in the pens and so on. The manual said that's one of the things that works pretty good with those guys for our purposes. I think they had some shock, but really, isn't that what we're here for?

Q: What are your plans now?

El Diablo: Well, we need to negotiate some additional space. I've got my real estate team working on that as we speak. We just need some support from above, and maybe some donations. We're still trying to work out the details. Excuse me, (shouts to assistant) "Atta, fetch me some water - don't forget I like the sparkly kind". Sorry about that, where was I? Oh yes. Not many people know this, but we pre-reserve space for some of the obvious ones like Osama, Saddam, Michael Moore, Sen. Durbin, Sen. Schumer, and so on. You know the type. The Democrats have been great for business! But that's how we get a feel for our space needs. Like I said, it's filling up fast.

Q: Will you keep us updated on your progress?

El Diablo: Sure will! Thanks, all! I gotta go meet with Jacques, but it's been great to see you. Oh, by the way, we're setting up a special media section just for you guys on level 534. See you soon!

London - never forget

If this doesn't motivate you, what will? This, from our enemies (hat tip: Little Green Footballs):

"Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The time has come for vengeance against the Zionist crusader government of Britain in response to the massacres Britain committed in Iraq and Afghanistan," said the statement, which was translated by The Associated Press in Cairo. "The heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west."

Target lock: Mecca.

The downward spiral, thanks to liberals

Here in the Minneapolis area, we have a particularly vile weekly newspaper called City Pages. Many years ago, it used to be cutting edge and a fun an informative read for the local "scene". While it has always been run by leftists, Marxists, and liberals of all stripes, they were generally subdued politically, in a relative sense. You knew that they were liberals, but it wasn't a big deal.

The City Pages had a history of some good investigative work, and some very interesting stories that papers like the Red Star would never print. They might write an expose on the local crime scene unit, or do a profile on some interesting local personality. Fun reads.

Sometime over the past decade, however, City Pages crossed the line from exploring the stories the big papers wouldn't touch, to being an all-out Marxist, propaganda machine with twisted fixations on perversions and evil of all kinds. Anything goes for the City Pages. All lifestyles and sexual activities are celebrated, and the word "normal" is not in their lexicon. It's great if you're a pervert, degenerate, loser, or mentally imbalanced. It's not great if you have a shred of decency.

Where are we going with this? The big picture is the wanton immorality of many areas of our society. One doesn't even have to be a prude to be shocked by the level of cultural trash we and our children are exposed to everywhere we look.

For example, it used to be that only criminals, longshoremen, and some military vets sported tattoos. Now we can add a substantial number of 18 year old suburban girls to that group. They know not what they have subjected themselves to. It's a shame they're led astray by powerful forces, dark and grim.

The Red Star is trying desperately to slide into the pit. They promote, celebrate, and glorify behaviors and ideas such as homosexuality, socialism, nihilism, and many things counter-culture and "non-normative". Today, they printed an article in the Variety seciton titled "More brides are 'showing' in their wedding gowns". It represents one of the Red Star's primary agendas: to normalize previously shameful behavior, in this case out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

"The Rev. Scott Carpenter, a Unity pastor who presides over another national group of officiants, the National Association of Wedding Ministers, said that eight years ago, he never had a bride openly announce her pregnancy, but now those brides account for about 20 percent of the weddings he performs."

It's incremental and pernicious, and we have to ask ourselves, where will it stop?

Inevitable

To no one's surprise:

"A convicted sex offender accused of kidnapping 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her brother is also believed to be responsible for the May killings of three people at the family's home, authorities said Wednesday."

Here's the story. And, we couldn't agree more with the father of the abducted children, Shasta and Dylan:

"Groene also expressed frustration that Duncan was allowed to be free despite his sex crimes record, and he urged people to demand action from their elected officials.

"People need to get on their congressmen, their senators and even the president. This needs to change, now,'' he said."

Would anyone object to life at hard labor for (alleged) criminal child-molester Duncan? The death penalty just seems to easy for him.

Chief McManus and mayor Ryback read Rambix!

As you may be aware, Rambix was the first of the local media to report on, and document, the crime spike in Minneapolis, starting in late spring 2005. Here, for example, and here, and throughout the blog. That is, after all, one of the missions of this blog - to report and highlight the crime and trends that the Red Star won't, or that the Red Star suppresses (which they do often and very well, thank you very much).

Anyhoo, today mayor Ryback and police chief McManus have an opinion piece in the Red Star titled "R.T. Rybak and William McManus: We're working to reduce serious crime in the city". This is what they say:

"As mayor and police chief of Minnesota's largest city, we are very concerned about the recent spike in violent crime."

And Rambix wrote this on May 21, 2005:

"Spike in violent crime in Minneapolis?
Were the gates to the zoo left open recently? It seems the animals are running wild in Minneapolis. Violent crime in Minneapolis is seemingly out of control, but you have to have an eagle eye to find a lot of it in the Red Star."

Obviously, the mayor and the chief read about the Minneapolis crime spike in Rambix and the Red Star. Welcome, mayor and chief! More from the chief and mayor:

"We want residents and visitors to know that we take this threat seriously and we are leading a targeted, forceful public safety strategy. This is our top priority.

We are implementing an aggressive, proactive plan that targets chronic criminals, focuses on known hot spots, and expands our resources and effectiveness through innovative partnerships. This is certainly about applying the full force of our police officers, but it is about much more."

How about "much more" jail time for the criminals? We're "happy to pay" for a safer Minnesota. And what are the odds many of these creeps are from out of state? Minnesota is like flypaper for the societal bottom feeders, what with all the goodies that are offered. Don't listen to the liberals who seem to feel we've cut all the gift programs out of the budget; we still have one of the most enabling systems in the country when it comes to rewarding laziness and paying people not to work.

It's a good start, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Police Chief. Reform the welfare state and the sentencing, and we'll be on our way.

More on the Minnesota homosexual pedophile

KSTP Channel 5 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area follows up here on Joseph Edward Duncan III, convicted homosexual pedophile and (alleged) abductor of Shasta and Dylan Groene. See Rambix' previous post here. Bigger questions loom:

"The arrest of Duncan, a 42-year-old from Fargo, N.D., who had spent more a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy at gunpoint, has raised many questions and provided few answers. "Where have Duncan and Shasta and Dylan been the last six weeks? Was Duncan involved in the triple homicide? Were other people involved? Is so, who and where are they?" Wolfinger said."

Duncan is a one man crime wave, and obviously thinks nothing of wrecking people's lives. In fact, he wants to wreck a lot of people's lives:

"I am scared, alone and confused, and my reaction is to strike out toward the perceived source of my misery, society," the May 11 entry said. "My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die."

Is there any doubt that Mr. Duncan should not have been on the streets? Rambix typically prefers a theory of life imprisonment at hard labor to the death penalty, but it's really, really hard to hold that view when criminals like Mr. Duncan surface. Here's the judge who let him go:

"Becker County, Minn., District Judge Thomas Schroeder, who had set bail at $15,000 despite prosecutors' request that it be $25,000, said Sunday that he barely remembers the case and isn't sure if he knew then that the man was a registered Level 3 sex offender.

"Usually on a bail hearing you have limited information, and so you set it in an amount that you think is appropriate," the judge said. He said if he had known Duncan's record, he would have set it high enough that Duncan would not have gone free."

Why isn't the judge getting the full history of this monster? Isn't a large part of a bail hearing to determine a criminal's potential danger to society?

This is not a good sign:

"Authorities said Monday they found human remains during their search for a missing 9-year-old boy whose sister was found days earlier at a Denny's restaurant with a registered sex offender."

Nothing but bad news. Let's pray hard for the young lady, and pray for commensurate justice for the criminal.

Happy Birthday America 

Minnesota homosexual pedophile arrested

Is anyone else tired of our children being victimized by pedophiles? Today's Red Star has the story of the arrest of homosexual pedophile Joseph Edward Duncan III, who has ties to Minnesota, and is registered as a high level sex offender in North Dakota. He is charged with kidnapping two young children, although the boy has not been found. Mr. Duncan has an extesive history of molesting boys. He is a bad, bad man.

When you read the article, and review Mr. Duncan's history, it becomes apparent that he is the beneficiary of the soft treatment that many predators get from the courts, and, lo and behold, they go out and victimize more people. Children become the victims of both the predator and the court's lenient "punishments" of the criminal.

The children were taken from a crime scene where several murders had occurred, but it remains unclear whether he was involved in that horror. At minimum, we only know that he was inolved in ruining the lives of many children with his violent homosexual pedophilia and pedarasty.

Here's the information from the North Dakota Sex Offender website:

Demographic Information:
Date of Birth: 02/25/63
Sex: MALE
Race: WHITE
Height: 6-01
Weight: 150
Eyes: BLUE
Hair: BROWN

Residence Address:
810 7TH ST N (MAIN FLOOR)
FARGO, ND 58102
CASS CO.

Registration Information:
Expiration Date: Lifetime
Last Address Verification: 12/10/04

Offense:
1ST DEGREE RAPE - DUNCAN RAPED A 14 YEAR OLD BOY AT GUNPOINT. HE BURNED THE VICTIM WITH A CIGARETTE AND MADE THE VICTIM BELIEVE HE WAS GOING TO BE KILLED BY FIRING THE GUN TWICE ON EMPTY CHAMBERS. DUNCAN WAS TERMINATED FROM TREATMENT, SERVED A LENGTHY PRISON SENTENCE, WAS PAROLED, AND THEN ABSCONDED. DUNCAN HAD A LONG HISTORY OF SEXUAL AGGRESSION AS A YOUTH.
Conviction Date: 10/02/80
PIERCE CO, WA ,
Disposition: 20 YRS

Like we said, he's a bad, bad man. Why was this piece of garbage walking the streets? The good folks in Detroit Lakes, MN are wondering the same thing.

Minneapolis only wants criminals to have guns

Koscielski's Guns &Ammo in Minneapolis has been a survivor for many years against the thug liberal establishment in Minneapolis. About a decade ago, he won a federal suit against the city after they tried to run him out of town. Now they're trying to zone him out, and he just lost an appeal (It's like being tried by your accuser, and having the accuser's comrades hear your appeal). This means he'll have to stop doing business soon, unless he gets some type of injunction.

Mark Koscielski is a decent guy, and makes no trouble, unless you bring it to him. Then he becomes a fighter. He's the lone guy fighting the city - not a great position to be in.

This story may or may or may not appeal to people outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, but it should. This is the anti-gun folks (ok, "liberals") effectively moving toward a gun ban in the city. Mr. Koscielski needs a gun rights group to step up on his behalf, methinks. Your city could be next.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then...

Struggling Red Star columnist, Nick Coleman, is the lefty everyone loves to hate. Today, though, he gets kudos from Rambix for pointing out what everyone else knew months ago: crime in Minneapolis is out of control.

Speak of the devil, KSTP 5 reports today: "Two shot in south Minneapolis".

Also, see the post titled "Skelton" from 7/1/05 on one of our favorite blogs, Shot in the Dark. It details a story too subtle for the Red Star to report: a murderer released on bail by a liberal judge. The post exposes the Red Star's ignorance of stories we'd like, or need to, read, as well as what the liberal judges are doing to our state.

Strap on your kevlar, and enjoy the wonderful weather today!