Jake Patterson – accused kidnapper of Jayme Closs and killer of Closs’ parents – wrote a letter to a KARE reporter claiming he was planning to plead guilty.

To be, apparently, the good guy:

Patterson expressed concern for Closs and her family several times in the letter. Asked about his legal strategy in the case, Patterson wrote that he planned to “plead guilty,” saying he didn’t want Closs or her relatives to have “to worry about a trial.” He also wrote that he confessed in part “so [authorities] didn’t have to interview Jayme. They did anyways and hurt her more for no reason.”

Darn those abusive cops, messing with my sense of charity and compassion.

Patterson also wrote about feeling “huge amounts” of remorse.

“I can’t believe I did this,” he wrote. Later, Patterson added: “It was really stupid though looking back.”

I’d pick “evil” for my adjective.

It is, apparently, all about him:

He disputed telling officials that he planned the attack “thoroughly,” claiming cops only attributed that to him “to cover up their mistakes.” Instead, he wrote that he acted on “impulse” — “I don’t think like a serial killer.” Patterson also assumed he would get caught, though he “thought [it] would happen a lot sooner.”

“I followed [news of the kidnapping] through my phone. If something popped up on TV about it, I would change the channel,” he wrote. [I] Would tell Jayme ‘I’m sorry, I can’t watch this.’ IDK what she knew.”

I oppose the death penalty for precisely one reason – the inevitability of executing the innocent – but there were times the order of my opposition dims a bit. This would be one of them.

Still, Wisconsin has no death penalty, so it’s irrrelevant. With that in mind, I hope psychologists and psychiatrists – the competent ones, if any can be found – have a good long time to analyze Patterson’s mind, and brain, before someone shanks him.

I never, ever thought I’d write this.

Blockbuster – a video chain that spawned a few billionaires, a corporation that was once listed in the same breath with the likes of Microsoft as being “maybe too big”…

…is down to one store.

Just one.

At its prime in the early 2000s, Blockbuster boasted more than 9,000 stores across the nation.
Popular among movie watchers and video game renters, people flocked to Blockbuster to find flicks or games to unwind with. But the company’s business model soon became stale when Netflix and Redbox started providing on-demand digital services.
In 2010, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy and was bought by Dish Network. Soon after, Blockbuster began closing its doors, though some franchise locations tried to stick it out.
By April 2017, only 10 Blockbuster stores remained in the US.

Against all odds, the location in the small town of Bend has persevered.
“We’re proud to still be open,” Harding said.

Via CNN

Free markets have a way of dealing with companies that are “too big”. And I suspect the Blockbuster in Bend will do a booming business being…it.

This article illustrates the problem with kids today.  They’ve been pushed a steady diet of political correctness their whole lives, so they have to say they support the winners being true to themselves and they aren’t the least bit bigoted against transgenders, no sir, no way.
But then they complain about girls having to run against boys, saying “We all know the outcome of the race before it even starts; it’s demoralizing.”  Of course it is.  That’s why there are separate Girls and Boys events.  At the competitive edge, boys are stronger and faster.
The girls know it’s unfair, they know they’re being cheated, but they lack the ability to call bulls**t on it.  They can’t stand up for what’s right without being attacked as haters.  They’re not only cheated, but silenced.  Now THAT is true male-dominated oppression.
The real problem is the failure of sports directors to distinguish sex (male – XY chromosomes – testosterone) from gender (masculine – short hair – aggressive).  I don’t care if a boy wants to run the 100 yard dash in a tutu and has glitter on his fingernails.  He belongs in his biological classification, competing against other similarly equipped athletes.
Otherwise, if we’re truly embracing the concept that mental state over-rides biology, then do away with Boys and Girls sports.  Everyone competes against each other and girls will never win another competition as long as they live. 
Then, we finally can get rid of Title IX.

To be replaced by a program to bring equity back to the system, via some formula devised by the same people who gave us the situation we’re in now.

Sick as I was, I managed to rally to spend a chunk of Wednesday night down at the State Office Building for the Judiciary Committee hearings on HF8 (the Universal Registry bill) and HF9 (Red Flag Confiscation Orders).

And if you missed it, the highlight of the night was Reverend Tim Christopher, from a church in North Minneapolis, testifying about the uselessness of the bills to the community where the violence actually is. He even managed to shut up John Lesch’s bored, snide heckling for six minutes, which may require some laws of physics to be rewritten.

My favorite quote:

“I see some of the people with “unarmed and unafraid on their shirts [a button that “Protect” Minnesota had been handing out to its lilywhite droogs]. I’d love to see them stand in the parking lot of my church on a Friday night”.

Watch it. Share it.

Because gun control has nothing to do with saving lives. Least of all poor black lives of color.

Watching the testimony in front of the house judiciary committee last night, I was most struck by the Testimony of Dakota county county attorney Jim Backstrom.

Where “struck by “= “terrified”

It would seem Mr. Backstrom considers due process to be a hindrance in doing his job.

Photo courtesy Rob Doar

Mr. Baxter may be one of the most loathsome people in public life in Minnesota – as we showed some years ago, this very same topic.

Rep. Ilhan Omar keeps talking about Israel having undue influence in American politics, and people keep ripping her for it, calling her anti-Semitic.
I don’t like it.  Name-calling is a silencing tactic of the Left.  Whether you are branded as a homophobe, sexist, denier or anti-Semitic doesn’t matter: they’re all variations on “hater” and the Left won’t listen to haters, no matter what they have to say.  People on the Right should not use that tactic. We should be able to defend our position with logic and reason.
Anti-Semitic means prejudiced against Jews. One need not harbor religious prejudice to ask why it’s in the best interest of the United States to support a nation, whether it’s Vatican City, Somalia, or Israel.  The best foreign policy advice was given by Washington and Jefferson – honest friendship and commerce with all, entangling alliances with none.  Religion shouldn’t enter into it at all, on either side, for or against.
I’m not saying Rep. Omar is right that Israel has too much influence on American foreign policy.  But I am saying she’s not wrong to ask whether it does, and calling her names to silence her is an indication that the name-callers don’t think they can defend our Israel policy in an honest debate.  That’s the most troubling aspect of all.

On the one hand, I don’t disagree – there are grounds for criticizing Israeli foreign policy. Not as many as Big Left would have you think, but sure.

On the other hand, that doesn’t detract from the nasty antisemitism problem the Democrat party has.

I favor defunding of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Not because I’m against art. Far from it. This blog. and my talk show, perhaps the Twin Cities’ finest two pieces of political performance art, should be proof of my commitment to art.

t the lesson is straight out of Econ 101; if you give people money to do something – in this case, to make art that may or may no be garbage, but matches some funder’s agenda or another, people will line up to take the money.

Now, I’m not sure that this “installation” last week was funded by the NEA:

According to a press release from the activist group Indecline, over two-dozen “men and women of color and members of the LGBT community” placed leashes and custom made dog collars on white men in red M.A.G.A. hats and walked them on all fours up and down Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday.
The group says that their “performance” was based on Cardi B’s recent Twitter battle with Tomi Lahren, in which the crass rapper told the right-wing pundit,  “Leave me alone, or I’ll dog walk you.”

VIA GATEWAY PUNDIT

(Note – vile misogyny is apparently OK if it’s a “conservative” you’re misogynizing).

But on another level, even if there wasn’t a single penny of NEA money behind it (and I can’t imagine there wasn’t, at some level or another), the whole farce is a symptom of the sort of entitled, smug, cliched “art” that arises from “artists” who have little to fear financially, and nothing, really, to fear socially.

To say nothing of critically.

How do you lecture the rest of the country about “racism” when one of the people in charge of your foreign policy is a corrosive racist who exudes antisemitism more often than Gerald Ford stumbled?

When you’re today’s Democrats, that’s a bit of a problem. House Dems put together a resolution saying “No Anti-Semites Here, Nossirreebob”:

The resolution, which began circulating to members Monday night, comes after a backlash from top Democrats who accused [Minneapolis representative Ilhan] Omar of anti-Semitism for referring to pro-Israel advocates’ “allegiance to a foreign country.”

Omar, not being the brightest crayon in the package, is doubling down:

[Congresswoman Nita] Lowey condemned Omar’s use of “offensive, painful stereotypes,” leading to a fight on Twitter as Omar dug in on her comments and was cheered by some on the left.
“Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman!” Omar wrote, later adding, “I have not mischaracterized our relationship with Israel, I have questioned it and that has been clear from my end.”

She’s “just asking questions” about all them Jiiiews.

Where have we heard that?

Good job, Minneapolis. We’re proud of you.

In economics, the term “moral hazard” means you have no incentive to guard against risk because you’re protected from the consequences, for example, by insurance.
I think the concept could be applied to societies.  In ancient times, a woman had to be careful who she slept with because pregnancy could be life-threatening.  It was foolhardy for a single woman to undertake it – she’d be unable to forage for food or to defend herself from predators while pregnant or hauling around an infant.  She’d need someone willing to hunt for her and protect her, a mate who would stand by her even after the immediate pleasurable act was done.
Societies developed rituals, traditions and laws to ensure women were careful and men stayed protective.  Oaths before God, punishment for fornication and adultery, stigma of bastardy and difficulty of divorce all combined to force people into the best social welfare system for the protection of women and children ever devised – the nuclear family.
We began to abandon that system about 60 years ago, piece-meal.  The result is women no longer need fear unintended pregnancy: they can kill the baby up to and – if Democrats are to be believed – even after the moment of birth.  If they keep the child, the child is entitled to food, shelter, medical care and protection but not provided by the father, provided by welfare. Welfare reduces the moral hazard of wanton sexual conduct.
So what?  It’s her right.  Keep government out of the bedroom.  And it’s not the child’s fault that his mother is a slut, can’t punish the child, can’t let the child live in shame and poverty.
That’s the problem.  The child is used as a human shield.  “Hand over the dough or the kid gets it.”  In the olden days, a woman would be careful not to bring a child into those circumstances precisely because she wanted to protect the child from shame and poverty.  Nowadays, the slut turns the tables and blames moral society for shaming her, for judging her, for reluctance to hand over ever more money to support her wanton lifestyle.  She raises her child in poverty, depending on handouts.
Restore the moral hazard for bad behavior.  End welfare.

On the one hand, it makes sense.

On the other hand – until there’s a complete collapse, the policy will to do it is, shall we say, weak.

SCENE:   Mitch BERG is checking his oil.   As he does so, Avery LIBRELLE pedals a “Nice Ride” bike up the sidewalk, obscured from BERG’s view by the hood of the car.  LIBRELLE pedals over to BERG. 

LIBRELLE: Merg!    What’s all this secession talk?

BERG:  There are those who think that as a result of a couple of generations of geographic sorting, the nation’s differences are so great it’s time for an amicable divorce.  Let Blue America and Red America split up and try their luck as sovereign, ideally friendly, countries.

LIBRELLE:   Hah!  That’s treason!  Treason, I say!  We are one nation under Goddess, and the last time the traitors tried to leave the union the rest of us beat them back into line!

BERG:   So there should always be one nation.

LIBRELLE:  Absolutely.

BERG:   One set of federal laws.

LIBRELLE:   Yes.

BERG:   So you support cracking down on “sanctuary cities” that flout federal law for their own ideological reasons?

LIBRELLE:  [Visibly flinching] Racist!  Traitor!   Badthink!

BERG:   Hey – it’s the middle of February.  Those Nice Ride bikes were all taken off the road in November.

LIBRELLE:  Oh, it’s on my sister’s credit card, so it’s free.

And SCENE

Most of you know this already.  Perhaps a few of it have heard it but don’t believe it. 

But since Big Left and its subsidiary, the DFL, is busy trying to roll back the 2nd Amendment in Minnesota – with hearings coming up Wednesday in the Judiciary “Division” – it’s worth reinforcing the point for those who don’t know the facts:

The armed citizen is overwhelmingly successful in ending or reducing the death toll in active shooter situations , over 90% of the time.  

So the below graphic does just that. Of all the active shooter events there were 33 at which an armed citizen was present. Of those, Armed Citizens were successful at stopping the Active shooter 75.8% of the time (25 incidents) and were successful in reducing the loss of life in an additional 18.2% (6) of incidents. In only 2 of the 33 incidents (6.1%) was the Armed Citizen(s) not helpful in any way in stopping the active shooter or reducing the loss of life.

Read the whole thing.

The Legislature is considering government-funded sick leave.  The legislation is incredibly complex and detailed but this is the first I’ve heard of it.
Where’d the proposal come from?  Did an advocacy group assist in drafting it?  Who?  I seem to recall Democrats fuming because the American Legislative Exchange Council had assisted with legislation.  Who assisted with this legislation?
Aside from that, I wonder about the public policy implications.  If the government will pay my sick leave, what incentive does my employer have to offer sick leave?  None, of course.  Will this legislation cause employers to abolish sick leave the way Obama Care caused employers to abolish health insurance benefits?

Of course it will.

And administering the program will create yet more jobs for the political class, serving as a transfer of wealth from taxpayers to them.

Yet again.

To: All Progs Who Still Think “All Conservatives” were “Birthers”
From: Mitch Berg, Angry Peasant
Re: Settling Up

Dear Progs who still still think inserting references to “Alex Jones” and “Birthers” puts an end to all arguments with conservatives and/or Trump supporters:

I believe that impeachment is inevitable. It also is a terrifying notion. Nations struggle any time they overthrow a dictator, and Trump really has the markings of a dictator. https://t.co/cduTmOxous

— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) February 27, 2019

I’ll be charitable and call it “even”.

To be a little more charitable – Omar is hardly alone. Dim as she is, she’s got someone really, really depraved doing her thinking on this sort of thing for her.

Well, if you live in the Fifth, you better hope that’s all it is, anyway.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: The Democrats have been introducing bills that would ban vast swathes of guns, and have been telegraphing that they see the whole thing as an incremental process. Perhaps you could stand to open your mind and learn a bit.

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

ME: Well, those of us who make the time are telling you – the threat is real.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: Um…again, the proposals are on the books, and have taken effect in some places. Seriously, here are the cases…

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

ME: Yeah, so I hear – but those of us who stay involved are telling you – the threat is no joke.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: Er…just because you keep saying it doesn’t mean it’s true. Listen and learn.

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

ME: Well, those of us who make the time are telling you – the threat is real.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: See what happens here? You don’t know the issue, make an unsupportable statement, and wriggle away from getting set straight…

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

ME: Um…nice weather we’re having?

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: Bring me a shrubbery.

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

ME: Wagga wagga ding dong

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

ME: [Walking away].

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody is coming for your guns! Period!

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

THEY: You’re paranoid! Nobody…

[And SCENE]

THEY: I don’t have time to obsess over this stuff.

.

Psychological Projection is when I assume you have the bad traits that I deny I have.  A liar will assume everyone else is a liar.  It’s embodied in Berg’s Seventh Law.
A mobster predicts Trump will have Cohen “whacked” in prison because that’s what happens to snitches.  The story itself is proof Trump isn’t a mobster.  If he was an actual mobster (or even a Clinton), Cohen would already be dead.

And let’s talk about all those violence-worshiping Democrats yipping about Cal Bahr.