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Good Samaritan?
I was getting in my car in the 7/11 parking lot when I heard a commotion, looked over my shoulder and saw someone moving rapidly out of the lot and down the adjacent residential street. What caught my eye was the person was standing with both feet parallel, and a bulbous wheel between them propelling him with no apparent handle bars, no nothing. It looked like a segue, a self empowered single roller blade that used some sort of sensory balancing system. A one man, one wheel unicycle. It was amazing and struck me as something out of a sci fi movie. I thought nothing more about it as I loaded my small bag of items ( a bag of chips, a candy bar and a 16 oz. can of beer) onto the passenger side seat and was just getting behind the wheel when I heard someone screaming "Stop that guy!" I stood up and watched the store clerk bursting out of the glass double door, looking all around, waving his arms, "That guy robbed us!" I looked back at the parking lot entrance but the character was long gone. So I got in my car and left. The next day I was having my morning coffee, checking out internet news sites, when I hear my door bell. Looking out the window I see two people dressed in business attire, so I open the door and say "Morning. Can I help you?" "You Rick Elkin?" "Yep. And who are you?" "I am Roger Ruiz a detective with the Escondido PD, and this is my partner Maria Lopez. Can we talk?" "Of course. About what?" "Were you at the 7/11 on Country Club yesterday?" " I was. Now I think I know what you are investigating…want to come in?" "Well, if you don't mind, could you come down to the station so we can show you some pictures and get your story?" "About the robbery?" "How do you know if there was a robbery?" "Well the clerk that had just rung me up came running out the front door screaming 'That guy just robbed us!' So I assumed that is what you want to talk to me about. Am I wrong?" "You are correct. Can we talk some more at the station? It's only a couple of minutes from here. Could you be there in an hour. Give you time to get dressed and finish your coffee (glancing at the cup in my hand). That sound like a plan?" "At the new station on Center City?" "Yeah". "OK. I have never been there, always wanted to see the inside. I'll be there. One hour. At 10 am, OK?" "Great.Thanks, see you then." * * * I want to be a good citizen. I did apparently see the robber, if only for a brief moment. I was so distracted at that moment, not knowing a crime had been committed, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. That a person can ride a single wheeled device, a skateboard basically, so effortlessly. No control handle, no helmet, no motor that I could see. Are these machines readily available? Is this a new utility I am unaware of? Maybe the cops can clue me in…so I will sit down and see what I can do to help. As I walk into the modern entry, he receptionist looks up and says, "Hello. Can I help you?" "I was asked to come in and talk with detectives about an incident at the 7/11 on Country Club Lane". "Hi Mr. Elkin. Have a seat, I'll let Mr. Ruiz know you're here." She picks up the phone/intercom and announces me. Then says "He'll be right down". I look around at the directional signs and see arrows pointing to "Jail" and "Administrative " and "Coffee Room" and "Interrogation Rooms". Guess that's where I'm headed. Detective Ruiz and partner Ms. Lopez come down the hall from the elevator. "Thanks for taking the time to come in. We really appreciate it. Follow me." They escort me into a small room with only three chairs and a table. Monochrome white paint, no windows, only a dark two way mirror on one wall. Ms. Lopez points to the one chair, "Have a seat please. Water?" "I'm fine thanks". Mr. Ruiz, "Please describe what you saw yesterday. You are not under arrest, otherwise we would be reading you your rights. We just need info because at this point we got zip." "OK. I was leaving after buying a 16 oz. can of beer and some chips. I was planning to watch the ballgame on TV. I was just getting into my car when I saw someone go right by me on some sort of mono-wheel device. I was just blown away cause I've never seen one of those things. I thought to myself, man, I wish I had one of those when I was younger. I was really cool and I watched the guy go out of the parking lot and turn right on the residential street. He didn't go out to Country Club. He disappeared behind the building pretty quick". "Did you see what he was wearing?" "I would be guessing cause I was not at that time aware of any problem. Moments later I was crawling into the drivers seat and I heard yelling. I looked up and saw the clerk screaming 'Stop that guy! He robbed us!' Or something like that". "Was he carrying anything?" "If he was it was small and in front of his body, so I was only seeing his backside. That is one thing I did notice, he wasn't steering the skateboard, or the unicycle, or whatever. He was standing astride the wheel, facing directly where he was going. It was so weird to me. I wondered what the "f" was this guy riding?" "So no clothes description?" "I would have to say 'non-descript' Levis and a long-sleeve T-shirt. Maybe a cap or possibly a helmet". "If we could show you some pictures, would you be able to pick him out?" "No. Like I said, I was looking at his backside as he rolled away. I am not even sure it was a 'he'. I couldn't honestly say I saw a face at all! Sorry. I only assumed it was a guy because the clerk said 'Stop that guy!" "OK. So then what? You just drove home?" "Actually I did drive down the street to see if I could see anything. Thinking if I did I would go back and report it. But he was long gone, nothing in any garages or driveways that caught my attention, so I went on home." "Do you shop at 7/11 often?" "Hardly ever. I was just trying to save time so I could catch the last half ot the Padre game and I had no beer at home." "Do you know the clerk at all?" "Nope. Not sure I could even identify him either." "Can you think of anything else that might help us Mr. Elkin?" "Well, how many people in the area own one of those 21st century segue skateboards? I mean I have never seen one before and it looked like it came from another planet or some time in the future. Maybe there is a way to find out who sells those things and look at their sales records and warranty registrations. There can't a ton of those things in Escondido, right?" "Maybe you should be a detective. That is a good idea. We'll look into it. Sorry to take up your time, but we need to run every lead we get. It wasn't a big robbery, just a couple hundred bucks, but the guy, or girl, was oversize dark glasses and had a gun, so we take it seriously. Someone could have been hurt. Thanks for coming in. If you think of anything else, heres my card, just give me a call." "We're good?" "We're good. See ya." "Can I get a tour of the jail?" "Not today. We do have public tours so I will put your name on our mailing list for an invite. We don't have the manpower to do it today." I was disappointed since I was already there but in hind site it might have been depressing. I wondered, how long do people arrested by Escondido PD actually stay in their jail? Over night, or a couple of days? Probably mostly chronic homeless, druggies, drunk drivers and juvenile delinquents. From what I know most petty thefts are not pursued because of restrictive California enforcement laws and manpower shortages. Only when a gun is involved do they put any significant time into investigations. So I wasn't going to see any celebrities like Ted Bundy or the guy who shot Luigi Mangione in there, that's for sure. * * * Trump is about to depart Washington on his first President 47 World Tour. He plans on going to the Middle East, then on to a possible meeting with Putin and Zelensy. He may also go to China. These are the major players that control the economies, the trade routes and rules, and the wars across the globe. Can he work The Art of the Deal with folks who never make deals? These are strongmen. They are thugs. They didn't get where they are by shaking hands, they did it with secret police raids and firing squads. Either they pulled the triggers themselves or some appointed enforcer did it for them. They only know and respect strength, which in their world, means a serious lack of human empathy. In Trump's Builder World he has confronted similar strongmen types before. He knows that when they act out it is in fear. They may never says so, or show it, but they live in fear of losing. So does he. Trump hates losers, and he looks at these meetings as a measure of your opponents commitment. Not just to staying in power but to walking away with an image of winning. He knows when he is there the media frames everything differently. It is obvious Trump has a unique body language, and that in his presence, Putin, Zelensky, King Abdullah, Xi Jiping or Ammad Al Thani see him as an equal. In and of itself, that is seen as a winner. The public perception of what winning means is much different in free society than in authoritarian cultures. First, those living under dictators don't get much if any information. We may get altered information, but we get loads of it. We can extrapolate some truth from that. They get pablum, information that has been processed. We can arrive at a definition of what occurred, instead of being told what occurred. When we get a sense that Trump won't be bullied, we call that a winner. This trip is all about presenting that image to the World. So the peace treaties, the trade deals, the congratulations and private dinners don't add up to much. In the end, when the participants stand before the media cameras and smile and shake hands, that moment of truth, that image is endured in the minds of millions of us plebs, it is at that moment the decisions are made. By everyday people in every corner of the World. Who were the winners and losers? And then there are the Metaphor Whores. They will write their stories based on what they think their readers want to hear, not what actually happened. They create the storyline they imagined (it probably won't be deferential to Trump since he is an "existential threat to democracy") that Crown Prince Abdullah was deferential to Donald. That Putin curiously smiled at and seemed overly friendly to Trump. That Trump looked down at Zelensky but Vlodymyr seemed poised and focused. That Orange Man Bad was all puff and circumstance while Israel presses on to totally destroy Gaza. While Putin is secretly amassing troops on the border of Denmark. But they forget that the image the viewers captured in their memory was nonverbal. It wasn't about scoring diplomatic points. It was just a glimpse of righteousness that Trump projected. That he inevitably projects right when it counts, on stage at rallies, during debates, in the Oval Office or in the newsroom, just when the lighting is perfect and the camera is in focus, the man has a knack for coming out on top. Images of The Beast rolling through Riyada while dozens of Royal Police on horseback, carrying American flags, escort his limo to meet with their esteemed leader. The National Anthem is played upon arrival and Trump stands at attention, saluting the flag. Hollywood is jealous. On the fairgrounds stage in Butler Pennsylvania in July 2023, CNN had photographers stationed directly in front of Trumps podium. Set at head height, unlike any rally he held all year, this time they were ready for him to be captured on high speed film. And we all know now how prescient that decision was (or was it because they knew what was going to happen?). The photograph of the bullet that flew past his head is captured in midair just inches away. Then after more gunfire and the SS agents push Trump to the ground, the photographer catches him forcing his way to stand up, raise his fist in defiance and hollar "Fight, fight, fight!" A trickle of blood running down his face, the series of pictures are the most iconic news photos of a decade. The image is the definition of iconic. The Metaphor Whores go back to work. They barely mention what happened on the CBS Evening News. The Mockingbird Media says "Trump survives possible assassination attempt!" Some immediately questioned the wound and the blood. They suggest he faked it all to boost his approval ratings just before the November election, and point out that recent polls show him losing to Kamala Harris by 4 or 5% points. The Metaphor Whores fail to point out that the polls have never been right. In 2016 they had Hillary cruising to a win. They failed to connect the evidence that the bullets that flew by actually killed a man and wounded two others. That the bullets were hollow nose bullets, the kind assassins use. Instead they made a metaphor out of something so egregious and sickening, they said Trump 'fell to the stage" like he was sick. They said he was exploiting his own assasination for political gain. Come on, man! Such projection… The point is, Trump seized the moment: He stood up to let everyone in attendance and viewing on live streaming services, that he was not going down that easily. I was, by coincidence, watching his speech live on my monitor when I heard the 'pop, pop, pop' and I saw him grab his right ear. My heart stopped. I gasped! No, it can't happen here in America, or can it? The person doing the reporting yelled "Shots fired!" and chaos broke loose. It was a pile of agents wearing suits and bearing pistol holsters, circling around and on top of Trump. I'm holding my breath, literally shaking. Then suddenly, like a Phoenix rising, Trump pushes aside an agent, raises his clenched fist, and I thought "Winner again. He's a winner again! Oh my God, thank God! How does he do it?" I felt a chill go down my spine, and I spontaneously stood up and cheered out loud. No one knew at that moment what would eventually come of the election. But I knew instantly I was watching an historical moment in American history that will be remembered along with the Kennedy's, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, and Princess Diana. But this time the losers failed. "We're gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you'll say, 'Please, please. It's too much winning. We can't take it anymore. Mr. President, it's too much.' - Donald Trump, April 12, 2016 Is there a correlation between the advancement of human intelligence and the passing of time? Where exactly are we on the Learning Curve of Human Existence? Clearly, as time has passed, we humans have advanced our knowledge of ourselves, our history, our ability to produce food, to prevent disease, to fly, to split the adam, and to leave our planet. But when you look at a graph of how that intelligence has improved over 5000 years, it is somewhat disappointing. For roughly 300,000 years we were stuck in a relatively slow pattern of mental and scientific creep. Between the invention of the wheel and the printing press 5000 years passed! That is roughly 200 generations of minds that didn't have the capacity to conceive of something that could replace handwriting and clay tablets. Just 2 ½ generations ago, humans conceived of the computer. A machine that suddenly changed the learning curve into a near 90 degree upward angle. The Learning Curve had been inching upwards for 500 years or so after being relatively flat for our entire recorded history. What happened? In the 1600's Intelligence showed a sharp increase when compared to human history. But the exponential increase in scientific intelligence in the 20th century is quite unexplainable. Those who believe in the theory of evolution, Darwin's concept that humans have slowly evolved over many generations would have us believe that once the human mind reaches a certain point of absorption, of collecting information and connecting mathematical equations, it will eventually explode with expansive intelligence. Looking back over millions of years, the process has been incredibly slow, but steady. A pattern that in just a relatively minute period of time went berserk. Starting with the printing press in 1440, suddenly minds across the planet were able to share information and the whole world became a sort of proxy mega brain itself. The impact of distributing millions of brilliant ideas expanded the collective intelligence of mankind exponentially. If one brain is good, two would be better. What about a million or two working together and sharing their intelligence? But we still didn't have electricity, so human intelligence improved, but only incrementally. Four decades later the Industrial Age inspired more creative thinking: What if? Oh, wow, what would happen if we…? Applying the power of energy, of burning coal, oil, and using that to create steam…Uh oh, now we can use machines to do our work! Boom, the learning curve went up exponentially again. But in the long run, as a reflection of mankind, it was still just a blip in a couple of million years time. Then, when the computer came along, then microchips, laptops, and the INTERNET! OMG, now everything has changed. And I mean EVERYTHING! The learning curve seems to have nowhere else to go! At least in the lifetime of humans. Scientists say we are on the edge of a intelligence revolution. But our learning curve is maxed out. Very little time, relatively speaking, is passing between enormous leaps in automated intelligence. Maybe there will evolve another curve altogether. Not based on human growth and productivity. One just in it's infancy. A statistical curve reflecting another form of intelligence that never existed before. Maybe it's time for a New Non-Human Learning Curve. Starting from scratch. Hunter accepted his dad's pardon for tax evasion and gun registration violations, both of which are felonies. So he is a convicted felon. His acceptance is a default admission of guilt.The blanket pardon of all potential criminal prosecutions from January 2014 on is another thing altogether. General pardons do not signify innocence, and do imply that a crime/offense was committed. An unconditional pardon does not specify a specific crime, so it carries no implication and is only a legal amnesty for the period specified. Giving someone a blanket pardon, amnesty, clemency, reprieve or commutation does not stop authorities from investigating the activities of that person. In fact, investigators can still bring charges and pursue convictions of other participants, but they cannot, in the end, punish that pardoned person for those (in Hunter's case unspecified) crimes. Because of that fact most prosecutors do not move forward because of the great expense that would not result in any preventative measures. A pardon is the exact opposite of an exoneration, but in reality, it effectively bestows clemency and ends most investigations and related prosecutions. Joe Biden said he was contradicting his own promise not to give Hunter a pardon because he was convinced Hunter was only being persecuted because of his association with his dad, who himself was a victim of political harassment and therefor Hunter deserved mercy. But that begs the question, why extend the pardon back so far in history? Why 2014? If Hunter was simply a victim of over zealous authorities seeking to punish him for otherwise innocuous administrative paperwork errors, what made the President decide to stretch out the period of clemency to 10 years? If you think there is much more involved than paperwork mistakes, that the President is covering his own ass by silencing critics of Hunters international financial machinations, than you are not alone. Joe's pardon is a blatant attempt to derail scrutiny of the relationship he and his son, and others, had with the Ukrainian government, and the enormous amounts of money and military armaments being transferred out of America and disappearing into oblivion. The nature of the pardon has massive implications because it effectively blocks further inquiries into the entire Biden Family Ukrainian Shakedown Operation. If, as many observers think, Hunter was essentially a bagman, extorting millions from various parties in and around Ukraine, making him legally "disappear" is tantamount to whacking him. So what now? Federal pardons do not extend to violations of State laws. Nor does it preclude civil actions. "...a pardon will not interfere with any rights a third party has to recover damages for another’s criminal behavior even if that behavior has been forgiven by a pardon." If a California art broker claimed his business was damaged by Hunter Biden selling forged artworks, he could sue for damages in a California court. Not likely, but there may be dozens of folks who suffered damages via the Biden Crime Family, all across America. I'll leave it to more qualified legal eagles to uncover plaintiffs, but I am guessing once Joey Bananas retires to his beach-side mansion, there will be no country for that old man, or Hunter. Why do I say that? Pardoned individuals cannot use their legal status to claim 5th amendment (self incrimination) rights to avoid testimony in court proceedings involving others regarding the circumstances of their activities surrounding the crimes included in the pardon. Should prosecutors ever bring charges against Hunter's business associates involving money laundering, forgery, fraud, or tax evasion in or around his energy business interests in Ukraine, he would be forced to testify in Federal court, or face charges for obstructing justice, a crime that would occur post pardon. "Although truthful testimony might shame a witness or open Biden or others up to suits for civil damages, these considerations cannot support Fifth Amendment claims. Also, with criminal prosecutions off the table, Congress or the Justice Department, perhaps acting through special counsel, might be more, rather than less, willing to explore the possible crimes and bad acts of Biden and his associates. To a degree determined by the scope of Biden’s pardons, recipients could be required to flesh out details about crimes for which they had been pardoned, perhaps implicating others whose involvement had gone undetected. If they then lied to avoid shaming themselves or to protect others, they could be tried for that crime." -- (My apologies to Brooking Institution) When I saw Lori Loughlin appear on a recent episode of Blue Bloods, I recalled a column I wrote back in June 2023. Seems more relevant now as we confront the immense amount of cheating and lying that has occurred since 2020...
Shameless Generation They say everyone cheats on their income taxes… That may be true. It is illegal, so if you do it, you are cheating. Period. But the tax system itself is so convoluted and difficult to understand, I think it almost encourages cheating. Many use its complexity as an excuse to misrepresent their true income. Maybe our terrible progressive tax system explains why so many Americans accept cheating as a way of life. But if you and I do it, so will our kids, and their kids, and so on. Where do we draw the line? Or are there no lines anymore? Television actress Lori Loughlin, and a few dozen other high profile Hollywood Limousine Liberals recently got caught shamelessly gaming the system. They were altering scholastic or performance records to get their kids into prominent colleges. Some of these elites have been highly public criticizing anyone who would vote for the "Immoral and unqualified" Donald Trump. Suggesting Trump supporters are reckless with their support of a racist, a misogynist and a tax fraud. My question is "Why do some Americans, especially ones who have been so spectacularly successful In their high profile professions feel like they have to game the system? Outright cheating, in my view, is a symptom of a social disorder called existential nihilism. Godless narcissists with no moral foundations cynically ignore authority and give themselves permission to cheat by rationalizing "I'm not really hurting anybody". But they are! In their situation, they were stealing admissions from better qualified and probably poorer students, just to give their kids something that they couldn't otherwise go out and buy. They are very rich parents, practicing very poor parenting skills. They should be ashamed of themselves. And then they have the audacity to slander Trump voters for their "immorality". But they are not alone... Its happened in professional sports with top ranked players using performance enhancing drugs. Icons like cyclist Lance Armstrong and baseball player Mark McGuire, selfishly ruining the integrity and the record books of their sport. Now, when you look up home run records, you see asterisks next to stars like McGuire and Sammy Sosa. We are seeing it right now in the politics of personal destruction. Politicians shamelessly slandering their opponents, knowing full well once a salacious claim is made public, voters can never "unring the bell". Ask Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about that issue. Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has claimed to be a descendent of the Cherokee Nation. She is either mentally ill or a liar. But her misuse of true Indian heritage cheapens its value and distinction. It is nothing less disgusting than stealing the valor of war veterans. Have you ever given a second thought to the heritage of your great-great-great-great grandmother? Why would you? Unless you wanted to game the system. Another case involves Beyonce's husband renown rapper Jay-Z gaming his album sales by buying thousands of copies himself to assure his first week's record sales would set a record. A fake record. The list is endless. Cheating, gaming the system, or whatever you want to call it, has become ubiquitous In our modern "Progressive" culture. Meantime, liberal celebrities and media darlings have no problem screaming about how unqualified, immoral and ignorant Donald Trump is, while they themselves are committing fraud! Imagine, if it was just now uncovered that President Trump had cheated to get his daughter Ivanka into the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania? Those same cheaters would be calling for Trump's head. Will all of this negative publicity cause these morally bankrupt hypocrites to reflect on their own behavior? To call out their associates when they besmirch their trade or slander an opposition leader? Probably not because they were born into a Shameless Generation. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/blue-bloods-actress-lori-loughlin-takes-page-from-martha-stewarts-post-prison-playbook-expert |
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