Celebrating Columbus On Columbus Day

 Today is Columbus Day and I expect to see a good bit of Columbus-bashing. . 

But as I'm half-Italian and I was born and raised in a predominately Italian-American neighborhood in South Philadelphia, I share the pride of Italian-Americans who know that the explorer who "discovered" America was an Italian.

Yes, despite the views of the politically correct, who once again this year will note that people lived here before Columbus, that others visited here before Columbus, and that Columbus brought slavery and genocide to the new land, I believe that Columbus did in fact discover America.

As Michael Berliner wrote in Capitalism magazine, "Columbus brought America to the attention of the civilized world, i.e., to the growing, scientific civilization of Western Europe. The result, ultimately, was the Untied States of America."

And for that Columbus should be honored by all Americans.

A few years back, Charles C.W. Cooke wrote about Columbus in National Review.

As the historian William J. Connell argues, Columbus may not have been the first of the voyagers to discover America, but he was undoubtedly the most important. “His arrival,” Connell explains, “marks where we as a country and a hemisphere began our identity.”

Unlike previous landings, Columbus’s mattered. It was the first to lead to a permanent settlement and the first enduring landing from a civilization that boasted modern ideas such as a belief in science, reason, individual achievement, and Christianity.

Ultimately, Columbus’s story serves as the introduction to a story of immeasurable historical importance. To dismiss celebration of the man because he didn’t make it to America first would be akin to declaring that we must scorn Isaac Newton’s contribution to science because he wasn’t actually hit by an apple.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/329660/celebrating-columbus-brave-and-bright-charles-c-w-cooke 

Ralph Cipriano: What Are These Guys Doing Out On The Street?

Ralph Cipriano (seen in the below photo) at Bigtrial.net wonders why are killers still out on the street of Philadelphia. His answer? Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s pro-criminal views and policies. 

At 8 p.m. last night, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of men standing on the 4900 block of Frankford Avenue. One man was killed; six others were wounded.

All the victims were black males, but none were choir boys. Between them, the seven men had 51 prior arrests, including seven arrests for violations of the Uniform Firearms Act. As far as the shooter goes, nobody knows how many priors he's got, but hopefully, we'll find that out when he's in custody. 

In the last two days, there have been 17 shootings in Philadelphia, resulting in one murder, and many more victims in critical condition. The city is now up to 371 homicides, which puts us on a pace for 435 to 460 for the year. Meanwhile, in New York City, which has more than five times the population of Philadelphia, as of Oct. 4th, there were only 346 murders. 

Why are there so many murders in Philadelphia? The simple answer is that there are far too many dangerous guys who belong in jail, but instead are out on the streets of Philadelphia, shooting each other on a nightly basis. And who's responsible for emptying the city's jails? Anecdotal evidence, like what happened last night on Frankford Avenue, as well as a recent study, point to the one guy who's responsible for all this mayhem: District Attorney Larry Krasner. 

A study published in July by the pro-cop Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund  found that so-called social justice prosecutors like Krasner in six cities "have failed to successfully prosecute offenders, dropping or losing more cases than their predecessors," according to a foreword written by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III. 

"Vigorously and diligently pursuing law-breakers made our communities safer," Meese wrote about the not-so distant past when district attorneys existed to put people in jail. 

"Violent criminals who prey on innocents do not deserve to be coddled," Meese said in a direct rebuke of Krasner and his ilk. "Prosecutors who fail to hold them [criminals] accountable are derelict in their duty to justice." 

Meese was hoping the study would "serve as a wake-up call to our elected leaders, law enforcement officers, and the media that leftist ideas of social justice and true criminal justice are not compatible."  

"The duty of every prosecutor is to serve the public's interest, not their own," Meese wrote. "Ideological crusades have no place in the court of law, and criminal conduct cannot be sanctioned on personal whims." 

Amen. 

Meese was talking about Larry Krasner. The study looked at Krasner's first two years in office, 2018 and 2019, and compared them with the record of the D.A.'s office from 2014 to 2018. Most of that time Rufus Seth Williams was D.A., until 2017, when he went to jail for political corruption, and was replaced by interim D.A. Kelley Hodge.  

The study results are a disaster for Krasner. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.bigtrial.net/2020/10/what-are-these-guys-doing-out-in-street.html#more 

Singaporean National Sentenced To 14 Months In Prison For Acting In The United States As An Illegal Agent Of Chinese Intelligence

 The U.S. Justice Department released the below information: 

Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, was sentenced today in federal court to 14 months in prison.  Yeo pled guilty on July 24, 2020 to acting within the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign power without first notifying the Attorney General, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 951.  

The announcement was made by John G. Demers, Assistant Attorney General; Michael R. Sherwin, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia; James A. Dawson, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of FBI Washington Field Office; Alan E. Kohler, Jr., Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division; and Deputy Assistant Secretary Ricardo Colón, Domestic OperationsDeputy Assistant Secretary Ricardo Colón, Domestic Operations.

Yeo was sentenced by The Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 

“At the direction of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, Yeo recruited Americans to provide information that he would pass back to his PRC handlers,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.  “Yeo concealed his PRC affiliation from his recruits and, contrary to law, from the United States Government.  This criminal conduct is part of the PRC’s efforts to exploit the openness of American society by using agents who may appear innocuous, but who act upon taskings from a foreign government to obtain access and information.” 

“This case serves as a reminder that China is using professional networking social media sites to target U.S. citizens with government security clearances, and to try to gain non-public and classified information. The threat is real, and we will prosecute foreign agents who exploit those platforms,” said Michael R. Sherwin, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. 

“Today we are reminded yet again of the Chinese government's aggressive attempts to gain knowledge and information about U.S. policy and government," said James A. Dawson, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office. "The FBI’s warning is not new, but the message warrants repeating: the Chinese communist government is working to gain information and access by all means, including recruiting US-based individuals to provide classified and/or sensitive information. There is no doubt that if you are a former clearance holder, you are an ideal and vulnerable target because of your knowledge and access.  If you believe you have been the target of a recruitment scheme, the FBI is here to help. We remain committed to rebuffing the Chinese government’s attempts, and to protecting the American people, our ideas, and our national and economic security interests.” 

"Jun Wei Yeo admittedly acted as an illegal agent of a foreign power by using various social media sites, such as a professional networking website and other social networking applications, to recruit Americans with access to sensitive government information. He identified their vulnerabilities, like dissatisfaction with work or financial difficulties, and offered money in exchange for information and written reports,” said Alan E. Kohler Jr., Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.  "This is a sobering reminder that the U.S. needs to be clear-eyed about the scope of the Chinese government’s ambition to manipulate Americans for their own nation’s advancement; and confronting this threat remains the FBI’s top counterintelligence priority." 

“The close working relationship between the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office resulted in today's sentencing of Mr.Yeo before he could potentially harm the security of our country,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Ricardo Colón, Domestic Operations, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. “This was a great success by all of the agencies involved.” 

As outlined in the Statement of Offense, Yeo began working with Chinese intelligence officers as early as 2015, initially targeting other Asian countries, but then focusing on the United States.  In response to taskings from his Chinese intelligence contacts, Yeo worked to spot and assess Americans with access to valuable non-public information, including U.S. military and government employees with high-level security clearances.  After Yeo identified American targets, he solicited them for non-public information and paid them to write reports.  Yeo told these American targets that the reports were for clients in Asia, without revealing that they were in fact destined for the Chinese government. 

Yeo made use of various social media sites to carry out the taskings given to him by Chinese intelligence operatives.  In 2018, Yeo created a fake consulting company that used the same name as a prominent U.S. consulting firm that conducts public and government relations, and Yeo posted job advertisements under that company name.  Ninety percent of the resumes Yeo received in response were from U.S. military and government personnel with security clearances, and he passed resumes of interest to one of the Chinese intelligence operatives. 

Yeo also used a professional networking website that is focused on career and employment information to carry out the taskings he received from Chinese intelligence officials.  Yeo used the professional networking website to find individuals with resumes and job descriptions suggesting that they would have access to valuable information.  After he identified individuals worth targeting, Yeo followed guidance he received from Chinese intelligence operatives regarding how to recruit potential targets, including identifying their vulnerabilities, such as dissatisfaction with work or financial difficulties.  

The investigation into this matter was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas N. Saunders and Erik M. Kenerson of the National Security Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, along with David Aaron of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice. 

If you suspect you have been the target of a recruitment scheme, contact your local FBI Field Office. 

On This Day In History Communist Revolutionary Ernesto 'Che" Guevara Was Executed In Bolivia

 On this day in history Communist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara was executed in Bolivia.

Although Guevara was and is a hero to leftists around the world, many others, like me, believe he was a despot, a murderer, and an utter failure as a revolutionary.  

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the hunt for Che Guevara via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/11/my-piece-on-look-back-at-hunt-and.html

And you can read my Washington Times review of Mitch Weiss and Kevin Maurer's Hunting Che: How a U.S. Special Forces team helped Capture the World's Most Famous Revolutionary via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/08/my-washington-times-review-of-hunting_6.html 

Babylon Bee: Fly That Landed On Mike Pence During Debate Revealed To Be Member Of Antifa

The Babylon Bee off their satirical take on that fly on the Mike Pence’s head.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT—Antifa communists are celebrating a major win after one of their distinguished members, Buzzy the Fly, landed on Mike Pence's head and distracted debate viewers for a few minutes. Investigators determined that Buzzy is the latest member of Salt Lake City Antifa.

"Buzzy is one of our most dedicated anti-fascist resistance fighters," said Vandex Craxavague, chairperson of the local Antifa chapter. "Not only is ze our smartest and best-looking member, but ze dedicated the majority of zir 28-day lifespan to infiltrating the debate hall and planning zir attack."

You can read the rest of the humor piece via the below link:

https://babylonbee.com/news/housefly-that-landed-on-mike-pence-during-debate-recruited-by-antifa 

Drug Trafficking And The Aftermath In Rural Kentucky: My Washington Times 'On Crime' Column On J. Todd Scott's 'Lost River'

 The Washington Times ran my On Crime column on DEA Special Agent J. Todd Scott (seen in the below photo) and his novel Lost River. 

J. Todd Scott is a DEA special agent as well as a fine crime novelist. Reading his first novel, “The Far Empty,” I was reminded of Norman Mailer’s comment about then-Assistant U.S. Attorney George V. Higgins and his novel “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”: “What I can’t get over is that so good a first novel was written by the fuzz.” 

Like George V. Higgins and former LAPD detective Sgt. Joseph Wambaugh, J. Todd Scott has mined his experiences in law enforcement to craft some fine crime novels. His most recent, “Lost River,” offers a gritty and realistic story of drug trafficking and the aftermath in Kentucky. 

We meet the feared, corrupt and corrupting Glasser crime family, who control the distribution of illicit drugs from their rural compound. As the opioid crisis intensifies in Appalachia, people are dying from drug overdoses, and then the Glasser compound is attacked. The novel also introduces the reader to a troubled EMT, an equally troubled former police chief who loses his wife to a drug overdose, and Duck, a crooked local cop. We are also introduced to Casey Alexander, a dedicated DEA special agent as well as a young woman who bucks local law enforcement and small-town ethos. 

I contacted J. Todd Scott and I asked why he wrote the novel. 

“I’d always wanted to write about Kentucky, where I was born and raised, and the state had long been on my mind after reading Jesse Donaldson’s wonderful book, ’On Homesickness,’ Mr. Scott replied. “Both in Kentucky and then Arizona, where I was living when I wrote ‘Lost River,’ I was heavily involved in working opioid overdose cases and saw firsthand the ravages of the burgeoning epidemic. 

“I knew I wanted to write about those experiences, and once I had ‘Lost River’s’ unusual story structure nailed down — the novel takes place over a single 24-hour period, following a handful of characters throughout that night as they cross paths in the wake of several overdose deaths — the book came together quickly. I’m not much of a ‘message’ writer, but I wouldn’t have written ‘Lost River’ if I didn’t think I had something unique to say about the opioid epidemic.”

Mr. Scott said that DEA Special Agent Casey Alexander’s investigation was a textbook example of how he had put together cases throughout his career, although the events were not from a specific case. 

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/7/lost-river-looks-at-drug-trafficking-and-the-after/

Babylon Bee: Media Criticizes Trump For Downplaying Virus Threat By Not Dying

 The Babylon Bee offers another satirical political piece.

WASHINGTON, D.C—President Donald Trump is once again under fire from the media for recklessly downplaying the danger of COVID by refusing to die. As the president begins to show signs of recovery, many worry that this sends the wrong message about the seriousness of the global pandemic.  

“Every hour that he lives is another hour that the severity of this virus is undermined!” said reporter Sara Grace Major for CNN. “Why won’t he just DIE and show the American people how deadly this virus truly is?”

You can read the rest of the humor piece via the below link:

https://babylonbee.com/news/media-criticizes-trump-for-downplaying-virus-threat-by-not-dying