Bummer: Elite Chilean Gang Targets Rich Michiganers On Vacation

If they ever get caught the Biden regime will probably give them asylum

Elite migrant crime ring targeting Michigan homeowners on spring break: sheriff

crying democratA sophisticated Chilean crime ring is terrorizing one of Michigan’s wealthiest counties once again, looting several homes last week while their occupants were away on spring break vacations, the Oakland County Sheriff warned this week.

Burglars in groups of three to six have targeted cash, safes, jewelry and high-end handbags in the reported break-ins, Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a press conference this week.

Among the reported thefts were $800,000 in jewelry and cash pilfered from a single home last week, he added.

“The Chilean gangs have been hitting us very hard,” he said. “They are super well-trained when they get here – highly organized. They look like ninjas – they’re all masked up, gloves. They each have a backpack with their particular set of tools for their job in the burglary.”

The thieves will often use a jammer to disable wireless alarms, Bouchard said – he implored residents to hardwire their alarm systems and make sure they are turned on when they leave home.

Well, it’s just property, right? Aren’t these illegals the folks the majority in Oakland County wanted, being that the county has gone Democrat since 2004, with Biden getting 56.4% in 2020.

No specific location is being targeted by the group – instead, the sheriff said, the group targets homes that are empty, upscale and backed up to golf courses or woods so that there is “little or no observation from neighbors.”

Hmm, shouldn’t federal agencies like ICE, DHS, and the FBI be involved with foreign nationals committing lots and lots of felonies against Americans?

All seven of the Chilean looters nabbed last year came to the U.S. through a visa waiver program, which Bouchard implored the federal government to pause:

“All of the intelligence estimates – just from Chile – we have 100-plus teams in operation right now in America,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they can’t visit but they just have to get a regular visa, which comes with a little more scrutiny.”

Yup, Biden’s policies let them in.

Read: Bummer: Elite Chilean Gang Targets Rich Michiganers On Vacation »

Climate Cult Judge Blocks Sale Of Timber Until Climate Doom Study Performed

You know what’s needed to build homes? Timber. You know what’s in shortage? Timber. You know what happens when homes are in shortage? Rising housing prices. The climate cult doesn’t care

WA timber sale blocked as judge orders climate change study

Washington state can’t auction an East King County forest for logging without first analyzing the local project’s climate change impacts, a judge ruled last week, blocking the controversial timber sale and putting officials under pressure to change how they evaluate public lands for harvesting.

The agency responsible for such auctions is reviewing Thursday’s decision, while advocates who challenged the project in court are calling the ruling a significant win. The Wishbone sale was scheduled for last July with a $1.62 million minimum bid, then paused when opponents sued the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Metropolitan King County Council members and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe had also raised concerns.

“This is a major victory for carbon rich, biodiverse forests and the laws that protect them,” John Talberth, president at the Center for Sustainable Economy, said in a statement about the judge’s decision.

Interestingly, that center is located in Oregon, but, the actual office is closed. Yet, they and so many others have no problem getting involved in things that are not their business.

DNR will confer with the Washington State Department of Ecology about next steps, Duane Emmons, the agency’s assistant deputy supervisor for state uplands, said in an interview. At stake is how DNR generates timber revenue, which helps fund schools, county governments and other services.

King County Superior Court Judge Kristin Ballinger sided with Talberth’s organization and others that challenged DNR’s attempted sale of 4.7 million board feet of timber on 102 acres near the Tolt River, outside Duvall. (snip)

Last year, a timber industry group said pausing the Wishbone sale and similar harvests would force developers to use more carbon-intensive building materials like concrete and steel and reduce funding for essential public services, while the Snoqualmie Tribe called for DNR to account for the climate impacts of logging the area, “not just the revenue that may be realized.”

So, lower government revenue along with higher cost building materials.

Well, you know, the people of Washington keep voting for this climate cult insanity, so, should be fun when they whine about even higher home costs.

Read: Climate Cult Judge Blocks Sale Of Timber Until Climate Doom Study Performed »

If All You See…

…is a fast rising ocean approaching the buildings, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is No Tricks Zone, with a post on Tokyo’s temperatures trending down.

Read: If All You See… »

Sanctuary City Denver Closing All Illegal Alien Centers But One

It’s almost like a declared sanctuary city doesn’t want illegals in their city because they are problematic and cost a lot of money. I guess it’s all fun and games till you have to actually practice their beliefs

Denver is closing all migrant hotel shelters but one, a signal that services are winding down

After this week, Denver will have just one hotel for migrants who need a place to sleep after arriving in the city, a sign that the 15-month, $63 million effort to shelter new arrivals is winding down.

The announcement Monday that Denver Human Services would close three of the remaining four hotel shelters this week came as a surprise, since Mayor Mike Johnston had previously said the city would continue operating three hotels as shelters. That’s down from a max of seven hotels around the city that Denver was leasing for migrant housing.

The decision comes as the number of daily arrivals has been declining. About 60 people, mainly from Venezuela and other South American countries, got off buses in Denver on Sunday, and 50 more arrived Monday — that’s a significant drop from previous months when migrants were coming at the pace of 200 or 300 per day.

Denver was paying for shelter for nearly 5,000 people in January. That number dropped to 730 this week.

In fairness, the illegals aren’t being booted from the city, but, they have to find other housing options. Will the citizens offer to house them in their own domiciles? It’s not like Denver has an abundance of housing: it was one of the worst for being in shortage. Where are legal citizens supposed to go? And as more and more come to Denver it makes the shortage worse and increases housing prices. Which will mean fewer people will want to move to the Denver area and bring their companies, jobs, and money with them. It’s not like the illegals are bringing high skilled labor with them.

Boston residents rip ‘disgusting’ plan to house migrants at former veterans shelter

Residents are up in arms about a plan to shelter hundreds of migrants inside a former Boston-area veterans’ shelter, according to the New York Post.

“I can’t believe the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home, which is for the Vets, is going to [be] used for the immigrants overflow,” Massachusetts resident George Belmonte said on social media. “How about taking care of the homeless vets first? I am all for helping people but how about taking care of those already here and homeless.”

Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey announced last week that the historic Chelsea Soldiers’ Home would be converted into a facility to house 100 migrant families, including pregnant women.

Great! Booting veterans out so illegals can have anchor babies.

The shelter had been closed and scheduled for demolition, with veterans going to a newer facility, for which they have to pay a little to stay. But, if the Chelsea home is fine for illegals, why can’t homeless veterans stay there?

Read: Sanctuary City Denver Closing All Illegal Alien Centers But One »

Huh: Britons Ditching Their EVs For Reliable Fossil Fueled Vehicles

Some things seem great right up till they’re not. If you look at the URL it originally mentioned EVs being unreliable

I sold my electric car and went back to a diesel – I’d had enough

The maiden voyage of Guy Stenhouse’s new Jaguar I-Pace in 2019 did not go well. His 145-mile route from Glasgow to Sedbergh in Cumbria was lined with charging points – but most would not charge his car, meaning a trip that should have taken about 2 hours 45 mins took seven hours.

“I stopped at every charging station I could, hooked the car up to the charger only to find it wouldn’t work,” he says.” It meant I was only able to use slow chargers and I could only get about 13 miles of charge each time. I got home at midnight.”

Many electric vehicle (EV) drivers will have heard versions of this story, or even had a similar misfortune themselves – as I did when charging problems elongated a drive between London and Cornwall in an electric car last year. It seems, five years ago, that perhaps Stenhouse was too far ahead of his time, and suffered at the hands of an under-developed charging network that is still evolving.

Stenhouse has since switched to a diesel car. That might sound surprising given that he was an early adopter of a fully electric car, as well as solar panels and a small wind turbine (he even had a hybrid car back in 2016). But he’s not alone in turning his back on EVs. According to the UK-wide independent car supermarket Motorpoint, 56 per cent of EV drivers part-exchanged for an alternative fuel type in 2023, with petrol dominating the choice at 30 per cent.

There are lots of factors for this, but, it happens. I’ve seen people buy a car and realize this was a bad idea or things changed. One lady was obliterated on negative equity when she bought a sedan then realized her son with MS couldn’t get in and needed an SUV. Someone just got obliterated when they realized a compact SUV wouldn’t work and they needed a minivan (which is what they were told to start with. Not my customer). I seriously considered going with a ridiculous lease on a VW EV, could use just for puttering around town, but, nah, don’t need a 2nd car. Like I’ve said, an EV would work 90% of the time for me. It’s that other 10% that’s the issue.

Harry Metcalfe, a motoring journalist and co-founder of the car magazine Evo, has also made the swap. After two years leasing an EV and two-and-a-half years with a hybrid electric as the main family car, he’s swapped to a diesel Range Rover Sport (though as a car fanatic, he does have an extensive collection of other cars too). On his popular YouTube channel, Harry’s Garage, he gets into the details of why, and explains he’s “not someone who doesn’t like electric cars”, and he’s another early adopter of green energy, using solar panels and heat pumps. He says that at the moment an EV isn’t suitable for their big drives or for towing a trailer.

Inconvenient.

He also cites the rising cost of EV insurance, along with depreciation: the value of second-hand EVs has dropped 23 per cent in the past year, according to research from the online marketplace Auto Trader. One reason for this is the Government’s Zero Emission Vehicles mandate, which requires that 28 per cent of all new vehicle sales must be EVs by 2025, increasing incrementally to 100 per cent by 2035. It means manufacturers are pushing new EVs on to the market faster than demand is rising, and that buyers of those can benefit from tax breaks that don’t apply to used cars.

Nothing I haven’t noted before. Tires are more expensive. Users are seeing battery degradation early, like with smartphones. Yet, Government is expecting people to keep them 10-20 years.

After that seven-hour incident, Stenhouse tried to find out the cause of the charging problem. “The charger manufacturer blamed the car, but the car manufacturer blamed the charger. Jaguar said the current was ‘too dirty’ with ‘too many spikes’”. As well as the car and charger not liking each other, the range was also an issue. The car is billed as having a 240-mile range, though Stenhouse says his car “always showed the range as 221 miles”.

Unreliable.

(Graphic via The First Street Journal)

Read: Huh: Britons Ditching Their EVs For Reliable Fossil Fueled Vehicles »

LA Times Seems Surprised That Restaurants Are Raising Prices With $20 Minimum Wage

If only someone had warned the LA Times, which was super supportive over raising the minimum wage for a specific industry, that there would be Unintended Consequences. First, though

I’m shocked!

Starbucks, Chipotle, McDonald’s: Who’s raising prices as California fast-food law starts today

Your next burrito bowl might cost you more than $12 thanks to a California law that’s significantly increasing fast-food workers’ pay, a cost increase that big chains such as Chipotle say they could pass along to consumers.

The new law takes effect today.

During an earnings call in February, Chipotle’s chief financial and administrative officer, Jack Hartung, warned, “To cover the cost of the wage increase, we would need to take a mid-single-digit price increase in California.”

The law, Assembly Bill 1228, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September and takes effect Monday. It requires restaurants — corporate- and franchise-owned — with 60 establishments nationwide to bump their California-based workers’ pay to $20 an hour, $4 higher than the overall state minimum wage of $16 an hour.

Though Chipotle has not yet announced a final decision on new pricing, many other chains, such as McDonald’s, Starbucks and Jack in the Box, say they are also planning to push that increase onto consumers or change their operations. The law also called for the creation of a restaurant industry council to set future pay raises and advise on working conditions.

Here are the fast-food favorites that are hiking their prices or changing how they operate.

Wait, Starbucks? Aren’t they like super duper left wing and support every Democratic Party initiative? Oh, right, as long as it doesn’t affect their own operations, just like they were against their own employees unionizing. Also mentioned are pizza places which are simply letting employees go. Then there are companies like Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon, with the owner considering layoffs and closing some locations. Jack In The Box states that menu prices could go up 6% to 8%. There are consequences to Government.

Read: LA Times Seems Surprised That Restaurants Are Raising Prices With $20 Minimum Wage »

If All You See…

…is a wonderful low carbon ceiling fan, a perfect alternative to Other People using AC, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on oyster bunnies.

Read: If All You See… »

SCNY Busts Gun Toting Illegal Alien Squatters

I wonder how quickly a left wing judge will dismiss the gun charges

Group of gun-toting migrant squatters busted in Bronx basement apartment on weapons, drug charges

A group of gun-toting migrant squatters were busted in a basement apartment in the Bronx — where authorities found a drug stash in a space shared with a young child, police said.

The NYPD collared the seven suspects after they were called to the Hull Avenue home at about 10 p.m. last Wednesday on a report of a man with a gun, according to the NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell.

When officers arrived, they saw a man pointing a pistol at someone as he stood in the driveway, Chell said. But the suspect took off when the cops walked up, and quickly headed back into the building’s basement, he added.

Officers allegedly chased, then tackled the gun-wielding man, who they later identified as Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, of Venezuela.

That’s when another man — Javier Alborno, 22, also of Venezuela — tried to sneak out of the same basement with a handgun tucked under arm, Chell said. But the officers saw him, and soon he too was in cuffs, Chell added.

Authorities searched the apartment and found two more guns — including one so-called “ghost gun” — as well as three extended magazines, a box of ammunition, a bag of ketamine and a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine, Chell said.

They were all charged with drug and gun charges. Both the illegals mentioned above are known to the police, having been busted before for things like attempted murder and possession of a loaded firearm. Why have they not already been deported? A 3rd man has a record for retail theft and shoplifting in both NY and Pa. If someone was applying for citizenship the legal route these charges would have violated the terms and they’d have to leave and they would have been booted from the naturalization program. But, the Biden Regime seems to want to keep most illegals around.

Read: SCNY Busts Gun Toting Illegal Alien Squatters »

Vermont Looks To Pass Law Requiring Fossil Fuels Companies To Pay For Climate Doom

I wonder how the state will operate when the fossil fuels companies simply stop operating in the state? What happens with all the boats, planes, cars, trucks, tractors, and natural gas for heating? Or, that they simply pass the costs on to consumers and fuels costs start to look like California?

Vermont advances bill requiring fossil fuel companies pay for damage caused by climate change

The Vermont Legislature is advancing legislation requiring big fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather.

The state Senate is expected to give final approval this week to the proposal, which would create a program that fossil fuel companies would pay into for climate change adaption projects in Vermont. It will then be considered in the House.

“In order to remedy the problems created by washed out roads, downed electrical wires, damaged crops and repeated flooding, the largest fossil fuel entities that have contributed to climate change should also contribute to fixing the problem that they caused,” Sen. Nader Hashim, a Democrat from Windham County, said to Senate colleagues on Friday.

Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures, but Vermont’s bill is moving quicker through the Legislature.

Critics, including Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is up against a veto-proof Democratic majority, warn that it could be a costly legal battle for the small state to go first.

Well, yes, it would be a major legal fight, and the lawyers for the companies are surely better than those of the state. Oh, and then there’s that thing called ex post facto. And might the lawyers for the fossil fuels companies argue that the state uses a ton of fossil fuels themselves, making them liable? How else does the government in Vermont clear the roads when it snows?

It’s a polluter-pays model affecting companies engaged in the trade or business of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil attributable to more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the time period. The funds could be used by the state for such things as upgrading stormwater drainage systems; upgrading roads, bridges and railroads; relocating, elevating or retrofitting sewage treatment plants and making energy efficient weatherization upgrades to public and private buildings.

Yeah, well, good luck. You might not like the outcome.

Read: Vermont Looks To Pass Law Requiring Fossil Fuels Companies To Pay For Climate Doom »

Boo Hoo: Israel Strikes Iranian Consulate In Syria

Israel also got a few really high ranking Iranians knocked off in the deal

Israel accused of deadly strike on Iranian consulate in Syria

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says seven officers have been killed in an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate building in Syria’s capital, Damascus.

Brig-Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the elite Quds Force, and Brig-Gen Mohammad Hadi Haji-Rahimi, his deputy, were named among the dead.

Iran and Syria’s governments condemned the attack, which destroyed a building next door to the Iranian embassy.

The Israeli military said it did not comment on foreign media reports.

However, it has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of strikes in recent years on targets in Syria that it says are linked to Iran and allied armed groups which are armed, funded and trained by the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran plays terrorist games and receives fun prizes. If they do not want this to happen then stop attacking Israel. Stop threatening Israel.

Obviously, this has upset many of the people who hate Israel and Jews and, by default, support the terrorists. But, they can go F themselves.

Read: Boo Hoo: Israel Strikes Iranian Consulate In Syria »

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