Israel, Iran and Syria Throw Down

May 10th, 2018

Following several weeks of Israel hitting (primarily Iranian) targets inside Syria, Syria (and Iran) struck back, firing missiles (reportedly from Iranian Quds forces) at Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, while Israel responded by stepping up missile and aircraft strikes, and launched an artillery barrage against Hezbollah forces just inside Syria.

What all did Israel hit?

An IDF statement said fighter jets had struck “dozens of military targets” belonging to Iran inside Syria. They included:

  • Intelligence sites associated with Iran and the “Radical Axis” – a term Israeli officials use to refer to an alliance between Iran, Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas
  • A logistics headquarters belonging to the Quds Force
  • A military logistics compound in Kiswah, a town south of Damascus
  • An Iranian military compound north of Damascus
  • Quds Force munition storage warehouses at Damascus International Airport
  • Intelligence systems and posts associated with the Quds Force
  • Observation and military posts and munition in the Golan demilitarised zone
  • The Iranian launcher from which the rockets were fired overnight
  • .

    The IDF said it had also targeted several Syrian military air defence systems after they fired at the Israeli fighter jets despite an Israeli “warning”.

    Meanwhile, Iran’s missile attack was reportedly a massive failure. “Four of its missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system and the rest fell in Syrian territory.”

    Let’s get the obligatory meme out of the way:

    How real remains to be seen. It’s not remotely 1947, 1967, or 1973 real, or even Lebanon 2006 real. It’s probably more real right now than Bekaa Valley 1982 real, which was plenty real enough.

    So, I dunno. A three, maybe?

    Livemap shows the activity in the theater:

    So what happens now? Does the situation escalate or deescalate? I suspect deescalate, mainly because Israel may have run out of Iranian targets in Syria to bomb…

    Trump Withdraws From Iran Deal While Israel Pounds More Iranian Positions in Syria

    May 9th, 2018

    Yesterday wasn’t a good day for the mullahs.

    First President Donald Trump withdraws from the United States from Obama’s asinine “Iran Deal”:

    resident Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is the greatest boost for American and global security in decades.

    If you think that is an exaggeration, then you evidently think the Obama administration’s injection of well over a hundred billion dollars — some of it in the form of cash bribes — into the coffers of the world’s leading state sponsor of anti-American terrorism was either trivial or, more delusionally, a master-stroke of statecraft.

    Of course, there’s a lot of delusion going around. After repeatedly vowing to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons (with signature “If you like your health insurance, you can keep your health insurance” candor), President Obama, and his trusty factotum John Kerry, made an agreement that guaranteed Iran would obtain a nuclear weapon.

    They rationalized this dereliction with the nostrum that an unverifiable delay in nuclear-weapons development, coupled with Iran’s coup in reestablishing lucrative international trade relations, would tame the revolutionary jihadist regime, such that it would be a responsible government by the time the delay ended. Meantime, we would exercise an oh-so-sophisticated brand of “strategic patience” as the mullahs continued abetting terrorism, mass-murdering Syrians, menacing other neighbors, evolving ballistic missiles, crushing domestic dissent, and provoking American military forces — even abducting our sailors on the high seas.

    And, of course, the most risible self-deception of all: The only alternative to this capitulation was war.

    In point of fact, war was not the alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. War was the result of the JCPOA.

    Obama said the mullahs would use the windfall to rebuild their country (while Kerry grudgingly confessed that a slice would still be diverted to the jihad). Instead, billions of dollars poured into Iran by Obama’s deal promptly poured out to Syria, where it funded both sides of the war. Cash flowed to the Taliban, where it funded the war on the American-backed government. It flowed to Hamas and Hezbollah for the war on Israel. It flowed to Yemen, funding a proxy war against Saudi Arabia.

    The JCPOA made Iran better at war than it has ever been — and that’s saying something.

    The challenge of Iran has never been the specter of nukes. The challenge is the jihadist regime. But the JCPOA was a lifeline to a regime whose zeal to acquire mass-destruction weapons betrays its fear of internal revolt. The regime came to the bargaining table knowing Obama could be rolled, but it was driven to the table by a global economic-sanctions framework, principally constructed by the U.S. Congress. The sanctions choked the pariah regime, providing the great mass of Iranian dissenters with hope that their tormentors could be overthrown — hope that Obama had dashed in 2009, when he turned a deaf ear as the regime brutalized protesters.

    The JCPOA empowered the totalitarians. Trump’s exit squeezes them.

    The deal was a farce that literally obligated the United States not merely to accede to Iran’s enrichment of uranium but to help protect Iran’s nuclear facilities. (See JCPOA Article 10, Annex III, Sec. 10 (“Nuclear Security”): obliging the U.S. to help strengthen Iran’s ability to “prevent, protect and respond to nuclear security threats to nuclear facilities,” including “sabotage.”) As I’ve previously outlined, every time the president recertified the deal, as federal law required, he had to make two representations, neither of which was ever true: (a) that Iran was “transparently, verifiably, and fully implementing the agreement,” and (b) that continuing the JCPOA was “vital to the national security interests of the United States.” The Obama administration spared Iran from revealing the history of its nuclear program, which would have been necessary to establish a baseline for compliance purposes; it cut side deals — concealed from Congress — that made verification procedures an impenetrable private arrangement between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency; and it agreed to limits on what IAEA was allowed to report about Iranian violations.

    There was plenty of coverage of that yesterday, with the Obamanations shaking their tiny fists at their “achievements” being undone, and the parliament of the Islamic Public of Iran chanting “Death to America” and burning an American flag, which is pretty much their go-to move for anything.

    Second, in a story not nearly as well-reported, Israel once again hit Iranian targets in Syria, this time around Damascus.

    Here’s video of the aftermath:

    (At this point the armies of the world should be asking themselves exactly what good are Russian air defense systems, since they certainly don’t seem to be capable of detecting or shooting down Israeli planes or missiles…)

    All of Iran’s recent gains in regional influence and power have come on the heels of a vacuum in American leadership, the foolish lifting of sanctions, and Obama airlifting the mullahs pallets of cash. Those days are over,

    Another Day, Another Sleazebag Pervert New York Democrat

    May 8th, 2018

    What is it about holding office in New York that attracts sleazebag pervert Democrats?

    Today’s latest example: New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who is now ex-Attorney General since his penchant for beating women to coerce them into sex came to light:

    Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general, has long been a liberal Democratic champion of women’s rights, and recently he has become an outspoken figure in the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. As New York State’s highest-ranking law-enforcement officer, Schneiderman, who is sixty-three, has used his authority to take legal action against the disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein, and to demand greater compensation for the victims of Weinstein’s alleged sexual crimes. Last month, when the Times and this magazine were awarded a joint Pulitzer Prize for coverage of sexual harassment, Schneiderman issued a congratulatory tweet, praising “the brave women and men who spoke up about the sexual harassment they had endured at the hands of powerful men.” Without these women, he noted, “there would not be the critical national reckoning under way.”

    Now Schneiderman is facing a reckoning of his own. As his prominence as a voice against sexual misconduct has risen, so, too, has the distress of four women with whom he has had romantic relationships or encounters. They accuse Schneiderman of having subjected them to nonconsensual physical violence. All have been reluctant to speak out, fearing reprisal. But two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, have talked to The New Yorker on the record, because they feel that doing so could protect other women. They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent. Manning Barish and Selvaratnam categorize the abuse he inflicted on them as “assault.” They did not report their allegations to the police at the time, but both say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face, and also choked. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him. (Schneiderman’s spokesperson said that he “never made any of these threats.”)

    A third former romantic partner of Schneiderman’s told Manning Barish and Selvaratnam that he also repeatedly subjected her to nonconsensual physical violence, but she told them that she is too frightened of him to come forward. (The New Yorker has independently vetted the accounts that they gave of her allegations.) A fourth woman, an attorney who has held prominent positions in the New York legal community, says that Schneiderman made an advance toward her; when she rebuffed him, he slapped her across the face with such force that it left a mark that lingered the next day. She recalls screaming in surprise and pain, and beginning to cry, and says that she felt frightened. She has asked to remain unidentified, but shared a photograph of the injury with The New Yorker.

    So why did they put up with it? Politics:

    Manning Barish was romantically involved with Schneiderman from the summer of 2013 until New Year’s Day in 2015. Selvaratnam was with him from the summer of 2016 until the fall of 2017. Both are articulate, progressive Democratic feminists in their forties who live in Manhattan. They work and socialize in different circles, and although they have become aware of each other’s stories, they have only a few overlapping acquaintances; to this day, they have never spoken to each other. Over the past year, both watched with admiration as other women spoke out about sexual misconduct. But, as Schneiderman used the authority of his office to assume a major role in the #MeToo movement, their anguish and anger grew.

    In February, four months after the first stories about Weinstein broke, Schneiderman announced that his office was filing a civil-rights suit against him. At a press conference, he denounced Weinstein, saying, “We have never seen anything as despicable as what we’ve seen right here.” On May 2nd, at the direction of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Schneiderman launched an investigation into the past handling of criminal complaints against Weinstein by the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, Jr., and the New York City Police Department. (In 2015, Vance declined to bring criminal charges against Weinstein, saying that he lacked sufficient evidence—a decision criticized by activist groups.) In a speech, Cuomo explained that “sexual-assault complaints must be pursued aggressively, and to the fullest extent of the law.” The expanding investigation of the Weinstein case puts Schneiderman at the center of one of the most significant sexual-misconduct cases in recent history.

    Schneiderman’s activism on behalf of feminist causes has increasingly won him praise from women’s groups. On May 1st, the New York-based National Institute for Reproductive Health honored him as one of three “Champions of Choice” at its annual fund-raising luncheon. Accepting the award, Schneiderman said, “If a woman cannot control her body, she is not truly equal.” But, as Manning Barish sees it, “you cannot be a champion of women when you are hitting them and choking them in bed, and saying to them, ‘You’re a fucking whore.’ ” She says of Schneiderman’s involvement in the Weinstein investigation, “How can you put a perpetrator in charge of the country’s most important sexual-assault case?” Selvaratnam describes Schneiderman as “a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” figure, and says that seeing him lauded as a supporter of women has made her “feel sick,” adding, “This is a man who has staked his entire career, his personal narrative, on being a champion for women publicly. But he abuses them privately. He needs to be called out.”

    Manning Barish notes that many of her friends attended the N.I.R.H. luncheon. “His hypocrisy is epic,” she says. “He’s fooled so many people.” Manning Barish includes herself among them. She says that she met Schneiderman in July, 2013, through mutual friends. She had become a blogger and political activist after opposing her younger brother’s deployment to Iraq and working with groups such as MoveOn.org. Amicably divorced from Chris Barish, a hospitality-industry executive, she was a single mother with a young daughter and socially prominent friends. Schneiderman, who was rising in Democratic politics after being elected attorney general, in 2010, was also divorced. His ex-wife, Jennifer Cunningham, a lobbyist and political strategist at the firm SKDKnickerbocker, currently serves as one of his political consultants. They have a grown daughter.

    Manning Barish says that she fell quickly for Schneiderman and was happy to be involved with someone who seemed to share her progressive idealism and enjoy her feistiness. Page Six chronicled the romance, calling her a “ravishing redhead” and noting that, at a fund-raiser, the television producer Norman Lear had introduced her as Schneiderman’s “bride-to-be.”

    Much detail of physical abuse snipped, though let’s call out this bit of liberal enlightenment:

    “Sometimes, he’d tell me to call him Master, and he’d slap me until I did.” Selvaratnam, who was born in Sri Lanka, has dark skin, and she recalls that “he started calling me his ‘brown slave’ and demanding that I repeat that I was ‘his property.’ ”

    Also this:

    After the former girlfriend ended the relationship, she told several friends about the abuse. A number of them advised her to keep the story to herself, arguing that Schneiderman was too valuable a politician for the Democrats to lose.

    And that’s how he got away with it. No one wanted to attack a politician on their side. Plus: “What do you do if your abuser is the top law-enforcement official in the state?”

    Anthony Weiner, Eliot Spitzer, Eric Schneiderman: New York Democrats sure know how to pick them. All powerful men, all sexual perverts plying thier kinks in the media capital of the world, and getting away with it for years and years because New York media outlets simply aren’t interested in scandals involving powerful Democrats. (Indeed, Spitzer, by merely having sex with high-priced prostitutes, comes across as relatively normal by comparison.) Add in Harvey Weinstein, non-elected but a powerful New York Democrat none the less.

    By resigning a mere four hours after the scandal broke, Schneiderman didn’t even get a chance to say he was going to take out his anger on the NRA.

    As for the hottest of liberal hot takes on Schneiderman’s sleazy scumbaggery, here’s the ever-reliable Louise Mensch:

    You can’t let mere abuse of women get in the way of your Trump Derangement Syndrome.

    Now the question is: Who is the next New York Democrat to be outed as a sleazy pervert?

    Roundup of 2018 NRA Show Notes

    May 7th, 2018

    For various reasons (some work-related), I was unable to attend the 2018 NRA Annual meeting in Dallas. But here are reports from a people who did:

  • Dwight was there: Day One, Day Two, Day Three,
  • Karl Rehn of KR Training, including covering some problems with the NRA’s “Carry Guard” program.
  • Houston Chronicles coverage of President Donald Trump’s speech.
  • President Trump’s speech itself.
  • Did John Kerry Tell Palestinians Not To Make Peace?

    May 6th, 2018

    So says this report on Fox, based on Israeli news outlet Maariv:

    Former Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly tried to meddle in Middle East peace talks, allegedly telling a close associate of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas not to “yield to President Trump’s demands.”

    Israeli news outlet Maariv reported on the apparent meeting between Kerry and Hussein Agha in London, where the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also reportedly floated a possible encore bid in 2020.

    But in the conversation, Kerry reportedly told Agha to share a message with Abbas – urging him to “hold on and be strong” during talks with the Trump administration and “play for time … [and] not yield to President Trump’s demands.”

    Kerry, who served as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state during his second term, also reportedly told Agha that Trump would not be in office for long, suggesting he could be out in a year.

    According to the report, Kerry used derogatory terms when referring to Trump, and offered to help the Palestinians create an alternative peace initiative. He reportedly asked Abbas not to attack the U.S. or the Trump administration, but rather focus attacks on the president himself.

    (Caveat: I don’t know enough about Maariv to judge the veracity of its sources (it’s generally described as “centrist” and critical of the Netanyahu government), and the report includes those “allegedly” and “apparent” words that are so frequently the hallmark of fake news in American media outlets.)

    I would say this is a new low for Kerry, but the Iran deal is still more idiotic and there was little indication that the intransigent dumbasses running the Palestinian state were even remotely interested in making peace with Israel anyway. But trying to thwart any chance at peace in the Middle East because you hate President Trump, hate Israel, and treat the terrorism-loving Palestinians as some sort of progressive victimhood identity politics totem for Democrats is plenty low indeed.

    This would also appear to be a clear violation of the Logan Act, everyone’s favorite unenforced statute from 1799 that criminalizes freelance negotiation by American citizens with foreign governments hostile to the United States.

    Hillary Clinton was running a crooked pay-for-play graft machine out of the State Department and yet, somehow, she was only Obama’s second-worst Secretary of State…

    (Hat tip: Fred Reitman on Twitter, via Steve Berman and Instapundit.)

    Waco Biker Trials Update: More Dismissals

    May 5th, 2018

    More news on the Twin Peaks biker fight indictments:

    Frustrated by a lack of movement in the Twin Peaks cases, a judge set trial dates Friday for three bikers, while McLennan County prosecutors dismissed 13 more cases involving those indicted in the May 2015 shootout.

    Judge Matt Johnson of Waco’s 54th State District Court summoned six members of the Cossacks motorcycle group or their support groups to court Friday to get updates on how their cases will be moving forward.

    On Thursday, prosecutors dismissed 15 cases against bikers who had been summoned to court Friday, leaving a much smaller group at the hearing in Johnson’s court. Prosecutors also formally refused an unindicted case involving Donald Fowler on Thursday.

    After the hearing, prosecutors presented Johnson with 13 new dismissals, most of them involving members of the Bandidos group or their support clubs.

    Cases dismissed Friday involve Justin Garcia, Cory McAlister, Jimmy Pond, Jason Dillard, Kenneth Carlisle, Richard Donias, Gilbert Zamora, Ronald Warren, Richard Smith, Phillip Sampson, Christopher Rogers, Rolando Reyes and John Martinez.

    The dismissals this week bring the number of pending cases to 98, down from 155 bikers indicted after the shootout in which nine were killed and 20 were wounded and injured.

    Since District Attorney Abel Reyna was defeated in the March Republican primary, his office has dismissed 56 indicted Twin Peaks cases and refused prosecution on 33 others. Special prosecutors appointed to handle four cases in which Reyna recused his office dismissed one indicted case this week.

    Reyna did not attended Friday’s hearing, nor was he at a similar hearing 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother held last week.

    Johnson set Wesley McAlister’s case for Sept. 10 as a backup case to the retrial of Jacob Carrizal, the Bandidos Dallas chapter president whose trial ended in November with a hung jury and a mistrial.

    Carrizal has a new attorney, and the judge said if he is not ready to try the case on Sept. 10, Wesley McAlister will take that trial slot. A jury panel has been summoned to report to court Aug. 24 to fill out questionnaires in the case.

    Johnson also set trial dates for early November for Jacob Reese and Timothy Shayne Satterwhite.

    Dallas attorney Clint Broden, who represents Richard Luther, asked the court to set a trial date, but said he will file a motion to recuse Reyna that would require a hearing because he thinks Reyna is a material witness in the case.

    The judge agreed to set Luther’s trial date after the first of the year, when Reyna will be out of office and the potential conflict will be resolved.

    It’s hard to think of such a high-profile modern criminal prosecution, following an incident in which so many people dead, where the prosecution of the case was so badly bungled. (Feel free to suggest alternate candidates in the comments below.) It’s almost as though all the mass indictments and endless delays were monuments to Reyna’s inability to actually indict specific individuals for the murders of other specific individuals, and now that he’s out of the way, maybe some actual justice can be salvaged from the ruins of his incompetence…

    (Hat tip: Dwight.)

    LinkSwarm for May 4, 2018

    May 4th, 2018

    (Insert labored Star Wars reference here.)

  • “There’s a big ‘God gap’ between Republicans and Democrats — 70 percent of Republicans believe in the God of the Bible compared with 45 percent of Democrats — but there’s an even larger God gap within the Democratic party. Only 32 percent of white Democrats believe in the God of the Bible, compared with 61 percent of nonwhite Democrats — an almost 30-point gap.” (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
  • Black male approval for President Donald Trump doubles in one week. No wonder they’re terrified of Kanye West thinking for himself.
  • Republicans could pick up nine senate seats in November:

    Republicans have serious leads in West Virginia, where incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin trails by 14 points; North Dakota, where incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp trails by 8; Indiana, where incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly trails by 5; Missouri, where incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill trails by 5; Montana, where incumbent Democrat Jon Tester trails by 5; Florida, where incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson is locked in a near-deadlock with Rick Scott; and Pennsylvania and Ohio, where incumbent Democrats Bill Casey and Sherrod Brown are leading by less than two points each, plus Virginia, where Tim Kaine leads by just 3 on the generic ballot.

    (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • Believe it or not, this is not a parody tweet:

  • In the UK, seeking to keep your child alive can make you a criminal.
  • Bill Clinton Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski have been expelled from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. “Forty years of tolerating a Hollywood director anally raping a 14-year old is enough!”
  • Tesla earnings show record revenues with record losses.” Remember my previous Tesla roundup: “The more cars it makes the more cash it burns.” At least they’re consistent…
  • Israel steals a ton of documentation that proved that Iran lied about the nuke deal. Duh. Everyone in the world except Obama’s moronic clutch of idiot weasel sycophants knew Iran was lying.
  • China’s low-fertility trend is no longer reversible.”
  • The multiple cascading policy cock-ups that cost students lives in the Parkland shooting. (Hat tip: Borepatch.)
  • Via Ace, a nicely-done ad for Georgia Congressional candidate Brian Kemp:

  • “Mystery pooper at N.J. high school’s track turned out to be superintendent.” Maybe the school board should fire him over doing a shitty job…
  • Aubrey Plaza officially more famous than Joe Biden. Good.

    I’m just giving readers what they want…

  • Heh.
  • Nothing but Star Wars

  • Islamic State Inspired Texas Mall Attack Thwarted

    May 3rd, 2018

    Another day, another another jihad attack thwarted in the Metroplex:

    Texas law enforcement officials said they have foiled an alleged ISIS-inspired attack on a north Texas mall with the arrest of a teenager whom authorities said tried to recruit others to join his planned attack.

    Matin Azizi-Yarand, 17, of Plano was arrested on Tuesday on charges he was plotting to shoot up the Stonebriar Centre Mall in neighboring Frisco, Texas, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis announced in a statement.

    Law enforcement officials say Azizi-Yarand had sent more than $1,400 to others for the purchase of weapons and body-armor. Authorities allege that he was planning to carry out the attack in mid-May. Officials say the teen also planned to “disseminate” a “Message to America” explaining the motives behind the alleged plot.

    Azizi-Yarand talked online with undercover FBI confidential sources about his desire to either “make Hijrah [a Muslim term meaning to travel to a more desirable place],” or to conduct a terrorist attack within the United States, according to court documents.

    Authorities said Azizi-Yarand even spent time at the Stonebriar mall planning how he would carry out the alleged plot. A court affidavit details the teen’s alleged communication with an FBI source, in which he’s accused of describing how he would kill a responding police officer.

    This is not the first time the Islamic State has targeted the Metroplex for a terrorist attack:

  • We’re coming up on the third anniversary of the unsuccessful attack on the Draw Mohammed event in Garland that left two jihadis dead and a Garland ISD officer slightly wounded. (A co-conspirator was later convicted.)
  • Back in January, the Islamic State singled out the First Baptist Church in Dallas.
  • By my count, Islamic State-pledged terrorists are 0-3 attacking the Metroplex.

    But it brings up the question: Why have all the Texas Islamic State jihadi attempts targeted the Metroplex rather than, say, Houston, San Antonio or Austin? (There was Ft. Hood jihadi shooter Nidal Hasan, but he predated the rise of the Islamic State. And there was the wanna be Houston jihadi, but I don’t think he even got to the planning stages.)

    Austin Cops and Detroit Crooks

    May 2nd, 2018

    Two interesting dispatches from the frontlines of urban crime.

    First, Dwight has a really interesting post on various Austin Police Department doings.

    The other thing I hear training officers say: they’re dealing with entire generations of people who have never been in a fistfight. They have no idea what it’s like to take a punch, or get into a physical confrontation. Not only have they never done it, they’ve been actively discouraged from doing it all of their life. And the academy has to teach them to get past and through that. You can’t quit if you hurt a rib or got punched in the face. You have to keep going, or else you will die. Or your partner will die. Or both of you will die.

    I’m not one of those people who blindly says “Oh, the cops have a dangerous job” as an excuse for bad behavior. Yes, it is dangerous (not so much so as commercial fishing, for example) but I still want my police to behave properly, and treat everyone with dignity and respect up until the point they forfeit that right. Then I want them to end the threat as efficiently and humanely as they possibly can. To steal an old CHL saying, “Be polite, be professional, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet.”

    On the criminal side of the ledger, here’s the first part of an in-depth look at a Detroit drug gang known as the Seven Mile Bloods, who made rap videos and put death lists up on Instagram.

    Since 2003, prosecutors say gang members targeted for death dozens of rivals on Instagram hit lists, participated in more than 14 shootings, at least four homicides, 11 attempted murders and drug crimes that eroded the quality of life on the gang’s home turf, known by locals as The Red Zone.

    “The SMB made The Red Zone into a war zone,” U.S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney Julie Finocchiaro said.

    More than 1,000 pages of federal court records and trial testimony illustrate how prosecutors used Facebook and Instagram posts, YouTube videos and rap lyrics to try and topple a social-media savvy gang that had a death grip on both the opioid drug trade and violence on the east side of Detroit.

    Five defendants in the Seven Mile Bloods case face possible death sentences under federal law, even though Michigan has abolished the death penalty. The five face possible death sentences because prosecutors say they were involved in homicides and violence as part of an organized criminal enterprise that operated a pain-pill pipeline between Detroit and Charleston, West Virginia, the epicenter of the nation’s opioid crisis.

    The court records and testimony also provide a street-level look at life and death in the The Red Zone. The gang’s turf is in the northeast corner of the 48205 ZIP code between Seven Mile and Eight Mile roads, east of Gratiot and west of Kelly.

    The ZIP code is so dangerous some locals call it the 4820-Die.

    Plus a gang murder that occurred because members of rival gangs ran into each other seeing their parole officers…

    May 1st: Victims of Communism Day

    May 1st, 2018

    Once again it’s May 1, a very important date of observance: Victims of Communism Day.

    VictimsofCommunismDay

    This is a day to remember that communism killed some 100 million people.

    Here’s a link to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. (They also have a Twitter feed.)

    Note that last year, the White House declared November 7 Victims of Communism Day for the 100th anniversary of the Bolsheviks revolution overthrowing the short-lived Russian Republic. But that may have been a one-time thing.