“What we have here is a failure of Commutergate.”

7 Years After Obama Commuted His Life Sentence, Alton Mills Shot, Gravely Wounded Woman on Chicago Expressway: Prosecutors
cwbchicago.com | May 19, 2023

Editor’s note: On May 20, 2023, the Cook County medical examiner’s office stated that the woman has died. The agency identified her as Linda Chattman, 39, of Chicago.

Alton Mills, a 54-year-old man whose federal life sentence was commuted by President Barack Obama in 2015, now faces the potential of another life sentence after officials accused him of shooting and gravely wounding a woman on an expressway in suburban Chicago this week.

Mills was held without bail by Judge Thomas Carroll during a bond hearing on Tuesday. Prosecutors told Carroll that the woman Mills allegedly shot was brain dead. She was not expected to survive.

In 1994, Mills received a life sentence for trafficking cocaine because the crime was his third felony conviction, even though neither of his previous convictions resulted in prison time. After Obama commuted his sentence, his defense attorney said this week, Mills went to work for the Chicago Transit Authority. He also campaigned to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing.

Shortly after receiving clemency, Mills spoke at a U.S. Senate criminal justice forum at the invitation of Sen. Dick Durbin. At the time, Durbin said Mills was “an overlooked casualty in our ‘war on drugs.’”

“The life story of Chicagoan Alton Mills shows why we need to pass the #FirstStepAct,” Durbin tweeted three years after Mills’ release. “Alton, who received a pardon from President Obama in 2015, was destined to spend his life in prison. He’s now a contributing member of society. #cjreform”

. . .

Mills’ car didn’t move when the light turned green, so the Explorer’s driver pulled around and passed without screaming or honking, according to Morrissey. She said Mills sped to catch up to the Explorer, pulled up next to them, and fired shots from his driver’s window.

Willie Horton Hears a “Who?”

Biden Caves, He and Speaker McCarthy List Points of Agreement, Take Possibility of Default off the Table
Red State | 05/22/2023 | Nick Arama

It sounds like President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have resolved one crucial point on the debt negotiations. They’ve reached the most important agreement — they will avoid a default and take that option off the table.

They came together to list their points of agreement:

JUST IN: Pres. Biden outlines agreements and pain points in ongoing debt ceiling negotiations with House Speaker McCarthy: “We both agree default’s not really on the table. We’ve got to get something done here.”

What the hell are Pain Points? By definition, won’t “something” be done?

“But don’t worry: we’ll take out his non-terrorist-leader children at the funeral.”

FBI Improperly Used Warrantless Search Powers More Than 278,000 Times in 2021, FISA Court Filing Reveals
Fox News | May 19, 2023 | Brooke Singman

The FBI improperly used warrantless search powers against U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times in the year ending November 2021, according to an unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) filing.

…

The court filing, which spanned 127 pages, was unsealed Friday by the FISC, but was filed in April 2022.

…

“As Director Wray has made clear, the errors described in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s opinion are completely unacceptable,” a senior FBI official

…

The filing released on Friday detailed a number of the improper queries, including a batch query for “over 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign.”

…

FISA Section 702 is set to sunset on Dec. 31, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are proposing reforms in order to reauthorize the section, with more congressional oversight. . . .

. . . against their political enemies.

Judge Will Not Reduce $2 Million Bail for Taylor Schabusiness in Beheading Case
Yahoo! News | 5/9/23

A Green Bay woman charged with killing and decapitating a man in February 2022 was in court Tuesday for a hearing to address various motions filed by attorneys in the case, including a request for another competency examination and to reduce bail.

Taylor Schabusiness, 25, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault for the February 2022 death of Shad Thyrion, 24, of Green Bay. She is accused of choking Thyrion to death with a metal chain and cutting off his head with a knife after the pair used methamphetamine and other drugs and had sex, police said.

A man’s got to ask himself: will you be flying Coach, First Class, or Schabusiness?

And I Hope They Stay There

Migrant Bus Arrives at Kamala Harris’s Home Ahead of Title 42 End
truthpress | 5/11/2023

A bus carrying immigrants from Texas arrived at Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence hours before Title 42 was set to expire.

The 30 men, women, and children arrived at the home of the vice president on Thursday morning and were received by the organization SAMU First Response and Mutual Aid.

This bus was the second one to arrive at the Naval Observatory in under 24 hours. The first bus carried almost 40 people, according to NBC Washington.

“Many on the bus told me they were from Venezuela,” a reporter for NBC News wrote on social media.

“This morning, a group of about 30 migrants – men, women and children – arrived outside the Vice President’s residence here in Washington DC on a bus sent from Texas.

Many on the bus told me they were from Venezuela. @nbcnews pic.twitter.com/YaZiX4LxVM

— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) May 11, 2023″

It is not the first time buses carrying migrants have arrived at Harris’s residence. One of three buses carrying migrants to Washington, D.C., arrived at Harris’s house on Christmas Eve last year. The Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network was on hand to transport the immigrants to a local church and provide them with proper resources.

Darn it.

The buses arrived hours ahead of the end of Title 42, a policy enacted under the Trump administration which allowed Border Patrol to expel immigrants without granting them an asylum hearing. Title 42 was enacted in March 2020 as a precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Burning Down Barriers: Female Firefighter Conference Causes “Out of Control” Forest Fire

Free Beacon | 05 08 2023 | Andrew Stiles

What happened: Female firefighters taking part in a Women-in-Fire Training Exchange program—intended to promote “mental health and gender diversity and inclusion”—accidentally caused an “out of control” forest fire in Banff National Park.

Residents in the surrounding areas were evacuated and several buildings were damaged on May 3 after the female firefighters initiated a prescribed burn that quickly escalated into an uncontrolled blaze.

Context: Banff National Park is in Canada, where South American migrants have been fleeing to escape the lawless squalor of America’s big cities.

What they’re saying: Days before the conference, local news outlets were celebrating the women’s fire conference for its efforts to “break down barriers in [a] male-dominated industry.” The 12-day training program was described as “an opportunity to engage participants of all different genders, ethnic, and racial backgrounds to explore the growing role of women in fire management.”

Jane Park, the female “fire management specialist” who helped organize the conference, described the group of women who accidentally started the forest fire as the “cream of the crop.” A former grad-school ski bum, Park said the training program was an opportunity for female firefighters to showcase the “value” of “diversity” in order to “build allies” among “men and people who are in the majority.”

New York Jury Finds Trump Not Guilty of Rape, But Guilty of Defaming His Accuser By Denying It

The Last Refuge | 09 May 2023 | Sundance

The nature of our politically corrupt justice system takes on new clarity today as a jury in New York City decided President Trump did not rape E. Jean Carroll, the crazy moonbat funded by political operatives, but President Trump did defame her in his denial of the accusation. Thus, the jury awards damages to the false accuser, while finding the accused not guilty.

The jury awarded $2million in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages for the battery allegation. The jury awarded $1 million in compensatory damages for the defamation and $1.7million for the repair of her reputation. They awarded another $280,000 in punitive damages for the defamation.

Keep in mind that New York wrote a new law specifically to provide E Jean Carroll a pathway to file a lawsuit over the allegation that something might have happened sometime in the past, though the accuser could not identify what year President Trump assaulted her. The accuser, a woman of notoriously odd behavior and remarkably unstable mindset, was funded by billionaire LinkedIn founder and very vocal Trump critic, Reid Hoffman.

New York created the new law for Ms. Carroll, Reid Hoffman paid for the legal costs, and Ms. Carroll made her sketchy accusations of something, from sometime, that wasn’t certain to have happened. There were no witnesses to the claimed events, there was no evidence the event took place, there was nothing to indicate Ms. Carroll or Mr. Trump were even in the same place at the same time.

However, the judge in the case permitted the presentation of possibility, then blocked President Trump from speaking about the case, and then instructed the jury to consider that Ms Carroll’s claims may have indeed taken place, at some point – although no evidence exists and no one knows when, not even Ms Carroll.

In any other situation this case would have been thrown out of court for being ridiculous. 

“Imagine being raped, in the middle of the day in a department store dressing room – by a celebrity billionaire – and not being able to remember if it occurred in 1995 or 1996?”

— Anonymous commenter

Woman Who Wrote Book On Grieving After Husband’s Death Is Now Charged With His Murder
Daily Caller | May 09, 2023 | Gretchen Clayson

A Utah woman who authored a children’s book about loss after the death of her husband in 2022 has been arrested for his murder, according to multiple reports.

Authorities brought Kouri Richins, 33, into custody Monday after she allegedly poisoned her husband, Eric, with a lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022 while at their home in Kamas near Park City, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Police responded to the Richins’ home March 2, 2022, after Kouri found her husband cold to the touch and not breathing at around 3 a.m., local outlet KPCW reported. Kouri allegedly told authorities at the time she had attempted to perform CPR, but first responders found her claim unlikely as there was blood coming from her husband’s mouth, according to the outlet.

Despite no indication from family and friends that Eric abused drugs, a medical examination of his body found five times the lethal amount of fentanyl in his system, according to AP. Kouri had purchased $1,800 worth of fentanyl pills prior to Eric’s death, KPCW reported, citing court filings.

Family members reportedly told investigators shortly after Eric’s death that he had previously warned them if anything happened to him, Kouri was to blame. One of Eric’s sisters said that a few years prior to his death, Kouri had allegedly handed her husband a drink that made him “violently ill” while vacationing in Greece. His sister claimed Eric believed it was an attempt to kill him, the outlet reported.

Kouri had allegedly been cut out of her husband’s will, something she was not aware of until the day after his death, KPCW reported, citing police warrants. She sued Eric’s sister, allegedly his new beneficiary, on March 28 for control over his estate, pointing to her prenuptial agreement, according to the outlet. Eric had planned to file divorce proceedings against Kouri but never got the opportunity, KPCW reported.

Kouri published a children’s book entitled “Are You With Me?” in March 2023, which she said was inspired by her children’s struggles in coping with their father’s death. Promoting her book on a local news segment, “Good Things Utah,” Kouri said she compiled the questions her children had into the picture book in hopes it might help other kids deal with similar grief. Anchors described her as an “incredible mother.”

Seems like that description is truncated.

Kouri Richins is facing a first-degree felony count of aggravated murder, as well as three second-degree felony counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to KPCW.

Karine Jean-Pierre: “This is An Administration That Has Taken Challenges at the Border Very Seriously Since Day One” (VIDEO)
The Gateway Pundit | May 4, 2023 | Cristina Laila

Title 42, a Trump-era program forcing migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico is expiring next week.

More than 6 million illegal aliens have crossed over the US border since Joe Biden was installed in January 2021.

A massive migrant caravan of busses full of illegals is already en route to the United States.

KJP said everything is fine.

“I can’t say what [the border] is going to look like after May 11th, but what I can say is that this is an administration that has taken the challenges that we see at the border very seriously since day one,” Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Earlier this week Karine Jean-Pierre said illegal immigration is down 90% because of Joe.

Or “Alma Lives Mater; But Diplomas Don’t”

A Majority of Colleges Have Dropped SAT Requirements, Matt Yglesias Has an Interesting Theory Why
Hotair | 04/26/2023 | John Sexton

So if you have kids in college or heading to college sometime soon then you’re probably already aware that many schools have abandoned the SAT as a requirement for applicants. Forbes reported last fall that the SAT is now optional at a majority of schools.

As the college application process picks up steam for the upcoming academic year, a new survey shows that more than 80% of U.S. bachelor-degree granting institutions will not require students seeking fall 2023 admission to submit either ACT or SAT standardized exam scores…

“An overwhelming majority of undergraduate admissions offices now make selection decisions without relying on ACT/SAT results,” said FairTest Executive Director Harry Feder in the organization’s news release. “These schools recognize that standardized test scores do not measure academic ‘merit.’ What they do assess quite accurately is family wealth, but that should not be the criteria for getting into college.”

Over at his Substack site, Matt Yglesias says this argument, that the SATs test for wealth is not completely wrong but it is a kind of convenient fiction that is meant to distract from the actual goal of dropping standardized tests. That goal, he argues, is hiding the ball on race-based preferences.

This is so obvious that it’s not worth beating around the bush: the schools leading the push toward de-testing are not making some kind of blunder, they are trying to get away with something. I’m fond of Talleyrand’s old quip “it’s worse than a crime, it’s a mistake,” but in this case, it’s a crime. SAT scores make it inconveniently easy to demonstrate anti-Asian discrimination in college admissions, so the industry is moving to burn the evidence.

In a Public Dressing Room — With People in the Store — Within Earshot 

The Guardian | Wed., 26 Apr, 2023 | Chris McGreal

“Donald Trump was being very light. It was very joshing and very funny,” she said. “I was flirting the whole time, probably.”

. . .

Carroll described the former president’s attempts to kiss her as “a shocking thing.”

Millionaire Playboy With Access to Playboy Mansion Violently Attacks Plain-Jane Writer

(I mean, apart from having to prompt him to remember his trip to Ireland last week.)

Joe Biden May Not Be Easy To Defeat Despite His Cognitive and Mental Decline
American Thinker | 04/28/2023 | Rajan Laad

If there is one word to summarize the functioning of the Biden administration, it is “consistency.” Alas for America, this is the undesirable kind of consistency of misgovernance, lies, incompetency, coverups, the attack on democratic values, corruption, and gaffes.

We saw more proof of this yesterday during a White House event on “bring your kid to work day.” Biden asked his audience of young children if they had any questions for him. Perhaps this wasn’t what his handlers had ordered him to do, but as often happens, it slipped his mind.

A little girl asked Biden where his grandchildren live. Biden replied as follows:

“So let me see, I got one in New York, two in Philadelphia, three, no three because I got one granddaughter who is, I don’t know, you’re confusing me, but they’re all around Wilmington, California, New York and Philadelphia, the cities they live in.”

. . . because I’m sure not going to insult my intelligence by watching video of Kamala.

IS KAMALA HARRIS THE ‘DUMBEST PERSON’ EVER TO BE ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT IN HISTORY?
Power Line | 26 Apr 2023 | Elizabeth Stauffer

She did it again.

Nearly every time Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the public, the occasion ends with a humiliating and viral sound bite. And this time was no exception.

In her first public appearance since President Biden’s re-election announcement, Harris delivered remarks at an abortion rights rally at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Describing the significance of the moment, Harris told the crowd:

So I think it’s very important, as you have heard from so many incredible leaders for us at every moment in time and certainly this one, to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present, and to be able to contextualize it, to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past but the future.