Patterico's Pontifications

8/1/2012

TMZ: Attempted SWATting at Miley Cyrus’s Home

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:33 pm



Nobody was home and nobody was hurt:

Cops raced to Miley Cyrus’ L.A. house tonight after receiving a report about a possible home invasion … but when they arrived to the scene, it turned out to be a false alarm … and all signs point to a troubling prank known as “Swatting.”

Law enforcement sources confirm … the LAPD received a 911 call at 6:50 PM to report a possible home invasion, possible shots fired.

The LAPD responded immediately … guns drawn … but the house was quiet, no one was home … and there was no sign of a crime. Cops determined it was a false alarm.

Law enforcement tells TMZ … officials now believe the caller is a “911 abuser.”

The call seems to fall in line with a prank called “Swatting” — in which a caller tries to trick emergency responders into dispatching law enforcement (like the SWAT team) to a home by making up a serious crime.

The more people do this without consequence, the more it will happen. One day someone is going to get hurt.

Maybe law enforcement will take this one seriously . . .

Palin on Cheney Criticism: He Misfired

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:53 pm



A joke so nice she made it twice:

In case you missed it the first time.

Chick-Fil-A Bomb Threat; UPDATE: Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day Draws Large Crowds

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:24 pm



This is not the way to win an argument.

I keep telling myself that actions like this are not a reason to oppose gay marriage. But note: I have to keep telling myself that.

A tipping point may arrive: where I decide that the need to oppose terrorist tactics outweighs my desire to seek social justice.

I’m not there. Yet. But does the fringe of this movement really want to keep pushing me that direction?

And do you think I’m the only person having thoughts like this?!

BONUS: Michael Hiltzik wants Chick-Fil-A to shut up and sell chicken.

Guess what? I want Michael Hiltzik to shut up and . . . well, truth be told, I just want him to shut up.

Apparently he’s not going to. Maybe Chick-Fil-A doesn’t have to either, Mikekoshi.

UPDATE: Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day appears to have drawn significant crowds.

Apparently I’m not the only one put off by the thug tactics after all!

UPDATE x2: Video of the lines:

They had a record sales day.

Olympics Open Thread

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:47 am



I’m watching them for the first time in forever. What are your favorite moments from yesterday (or earlier)?

L.A. Times’s Rainey Snarks About Breitbart.com — And Forgets to Tell Readers About How His Own Incompetence Was Revealed by Breitbart

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 7:33 am



James Rainey talks about Breitbart.com today, and it’s the type of hack job you’ve come to expect from that guy. Here’s a sample:

Breitbart made his name by sowing outrage. He promoted the hidden-camera videos that helped take down the liberal community activist group ACORN. He exposed the sex-charged online romp of the now ex-Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner. He hyped a video that left the misleading impression that an Agriculture Department employee was giving a speech defending racism. In fact, she was condemning it.

That is certainly the popular conception of the Sherrod affair. In fact, the truth is far less black and white. The edited video contained evidence of her alleged epiphany about poverty vs. race . . . and the unedited video did not appear to me to be condemning racism at all. Also, people forget that Andrew was making a point about the NAACP and the way the NAACP audience applauded the “don’t help white people” type comments Sherrod made early in the speech.

But I’m not here to nitpick Rainey’s hackery. I’m here to remind you about something he wants you to forget.

Rainey neglects to tell readers that Breitbart (and I) exposed the way that Rainey fell for an ACORN worker’s claims that she hadn’t helped Giles and O’Keefe — only to have Andrew release video proof that she had. I explained Rainey’s pattern of incompetence two years ago:

Regular readers will recall how Rainey uncritically quoted an ACORN worker who suggested that she had ordered Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe out of her office. Rainey (who today lambasts Breitbart for failng to contact Sherrod) hadn’t bothered to contact Breitbart — or Giles or O’Keefe — to ask their side of the story. If Rainey had bothered to do his job, he might have learned that the ACORN worker in question turned out to be only too eager to help Giles and O’Keefe with their purported child prostitution ring.

doh.jpg

Above: James Rainey

Rainey then wrote an ass-covering column that minimized his error — and which included a purported quote from O’Keefe. After I investigated the source of the quote, it turned out to be largely fabricated.

This was easily one of the most embarrassing events of Rainey’s career. He swallowed a totally false narrative whole and used that narrative to undercut O’Keefe’s ACORN series, only to get whacked upside the head with video proof released by Breitbart. Now he wants to talk about Andrew Breitbart and not disclose this, and he figures he won’t get any pushback because Andrew’s dead.

Here’s your pushback, Rainey. The pushback isn’t going to end just because one guy isn’t around any more. Don’t forget that.

Obama: Deport the Criminals Last

Filed under: 2012 Election,Immigration,Obama — Patterico @ 12:01 am



Failing to deport illegal criminals costs lives. Again:

The Obama administration released illegal immigrants who went on to commit more crimes, including charges of 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report Tuesday.

All told, 16 percent of the nearly 47,000 illegal immigrants the administration was notified of but declined to deport between 2008 and 2011 under its Secure Communities program have gone on to be charged with other crimes, the committee said.

. . . .

While hundreds of thousands of aliens have been sent back home under the program, 159,286 were not put in deportation proceedings during the period under review, CRS said.

About three-quarters of those weren’t eligible for deportation because they were legal immigrants and their criminal records didn’t rise to the level of deportation.

But nearly a quarter could have been deported and weren’t, CRS said. They went on to commit the 19 murders, 3 attempted murders and 142 sex crimes, the Judiciary Committee said.

So, 19 people dead because of lax immigration policy. But what is that as compared to all the votes Obama will get?

Thanks to Robert C.J. Parry.


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0746 secs.