At least Anthony gets the rest that he wants

Batman is a hero for stopping the criminals threatening the people of Gotham City. Daniel Penny is on trial for stopping a criminal threatening the people of New York City. It doesn’t get much more backward than this. On Monday, jury selection began in Penny’s trial. Prosecutors have charged him with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely. In May 2023, Penny encountered Neely on a NYC subway. Neely was acting erratically and threatening passengers. Witnesses have testified that Neely said, “Someone is going to die today.” That was no idle threat. Filemon Castillo Baltazar said Neely punched him in the face while he waited on an NYC subway platform in 2019. Two years later, police arrested Neely for smacking a 67-year-old woman in the face. Court documents say he broke her nose and orbital bone. She also had “substantial” head pain. In all, Neely had more than 40 arrests, including an active warrant for that 2021 assault. Put yourself in their shoes. You’re trapped on a subway car with a madman who’s threatening to murder someone. According to grand jury testimony, one subway rider believed he or she was “going to die” based on Neely’s behavior. A mother hid herself and her son behind a stroller. Passengers called 911. There’s nowhere to run to. There’s no place to hide. Most people can’t fight back successfully. This is when you wish superheroes were real. You need Batman to sweep in and save the day. That’s what Penny did, sans the cape. Risking his own life, the former Marine put Neely into a submission hold. Two other passengers helped Penny restrain Neely as he continued to resist. After Neely went limp, Penny helped put him in the recovery position. Sadly, Neely passed away. The NYC medical examiner said he died from the compression of his neck. Neely also had K2, a synthetic cannabinoid, in his system. It can cause violent outbursts and lead to seizures and death. This incident wouldn’t have been national news except for two things. One, a passenger recorded some of it. Two, Neely was black while Penny is white. Leftists quickly demanded that Penny be charged. “Jordan Neely was murdered,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted at the time. She called it “disgusting” that “the murderer gets protected with passive headlines plus no charges.” That’s right. Police didn’t immediately arrest Penny. That makes sense because he clearly acted in self-defense. But the Left kept ramping up the pressure. “Black people just don’t have to worry about being strangled by police, but by a regular citizen feeling empowered and supported by elected officials,” Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, said in May 2023. This is crazy. Black people don’t have to worry about being strangled by “regular” citizens. People who physically threaten others do—regardless of their skin color. Eventually, NYC officials gave into the mob. Prosecutors knew they couldn’t make a murder charge stick. Penny didn’t intentionally try to kill anyway. These lesser charges contend that Penny either acted recklessly or failed “to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk.” Notice the double standard. Leftists don’t want Neely held responsible for what happened after he recklessly threatened people. But they do want Penny held responsible for—after risking his own life—supposedly holding a submission hold for a few seconds too long. A healthy society would laud Penny as a hero. That praise would inspire other men to intervene in violent situations. Their actions and locking up the criminals would then reduce subway crime. Instead, NYC wants to send Penny to jail, potentially for more than a decade. In superhero terms, it’s trying to jail Batman for stopping the Joker. What a travesty. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post In Daniel Penny Case, NYC Has Put Batman on Trial appeared first on The Daily Signal.

THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Biden-Harris administration released data earlier this month suggesting its push to electrify everything will ratchet up costs for American households, contradicting one of the White House’s favorite selling points for its green agenda, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Biden-Harris administration has cracked down on residential fossil fuel consumption, a key aspect of its environmental strategy, justifying the push in part on the grounds that electrification will lower energy costs. Now, residential energy price data released Oct. 17 by the Department of Energy shows electricity was roughly four times as expensive as natural gas in 2024, with experts telling the Daily Caller News Foundation that the White House’s electrification push is an example of extremist climate policy that hurts everyday Americans. “The Department of Energy has consistently shown that natural gas is a much cheaper energy source for households than electricity,” Daren Bakst, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, said. “Government policies trying to block the use of natural gas in favor of electricity will significantly drive up prices, making home heating and appliance use needlessly expensive,” Bakst said. “The poor will get hurt the most because, compared to higher-income households, they spend a greater share of their household income on meeting basic needs such as staying warm in the winter.” AOC Attacks Republicans Over Gas StovesOCASIO-CORTEZ: "I do think it's funny, the…absolute…Republican meltdown…'You can't take my gas stove…How dare you…You have a gas stove.' "First of all, I rent." pic.twitter.com/F32HhSzEga— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 13, 2023 The Biden-Harris Energy Department has issued a slew of rules restricting the use of gas appliances, including revised standards for furnaces in September 2023 that could prohibit 40% to 60% of gas furnaces in homes, and increased efficiency requirements for water heaters that the agency claimed would save U.S. consumers $11.4 billion on energy and water bills every year. The Oct. 17 data shows electricity was significantly more expensive than fossil fuels, with a price of $47.36 per million British Thermal Units (BTU) compared to $13.38 and $33.59 per million BTU for natural gas and propane, respectively. Thus, according to the Biden-Harris administration’s own data, switching from gas-powered appliances to electric appliances could increase utility costs by over 3.5 times, in addition to heightened installation costs. “One of the most offensive bait-and-switch moves being played by officials in Washington, D.C., and coastal enclaves is the push to force electric appliances on everyone, everywhere, even when natural gas can often be dramatically cheaper,” O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers and former solicitor general of Arizona, told the Daily Caller News Foundation “The officials push the idea that bans on gas stoves, or gas furnaces, or other gas appliances will save on energy costs, but at the same time they have evidence that natural gas is cheaper,” Skinner said, adding, “It’s time that officials in D.C. stopped trying to micromanage people’s lives and make everyone hew to a one size fits all approach to their homes.” Energy sector expert Robert Bryce accused the Biden-Harris administration of purposely delaying the release of the price data Oct. 3, citing the fact that, at least since 2011, the Energy Department otherwise hasn’t published the information any later than August. At the time—two weeks before the data was published—Bryce predicted the agency was stonewalling because the cost figures would reflect the high costs of electricity relative to fossil fuels, which has proven to be accurate. “This electrification push is a typical example of climate extremism,” Bakst said. “There’s little to no consideration of how these policies will hurt Americans and the poor.” An “electrification summit” held by the White House in December 2022 included the nongovernmental organization Rewiring America, which previously has stated its goal is to “electrify everything.” The Energy Department didn’t respond to a request for comment. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post ‘Climate Extremism’: Biden-Harris Admin’s Own Data Undermines Its Push to ‘Electrify Everything’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Report: Whistleblower Claims There Was an Off-Book FBI Investigation Into Trump Ordered by Comey

CNN’s very own Anderson Cooper and newly-rehired Brian Stelter got together and, in an exchange devoid of fundamental self-awareness, chided Jeff Bezos for pulling the plug on endorsements at The Washington Post. The two went right to the line of accusing Bezos of improprieties, with a hysterical Stelter suggesting that this is the beginning of autocracy. Below is video of that full exchange (click “expand” to view transcript): CNN ANDERSON COOPER 360 10/28/24 8:56 PM ANDERSON COOPER: More breaking news tonight: Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos is defending his decision that the paper not endorse a presidential candidate this year. This, as thousands of Washington Post  readers canceling their subscriptions and at least three members of their editorial board quit over the move. Tonight, Bezos wrote an op-ed for the paper with the headline, quote, “The hard truth: Americans don't trust the news media- a note from our owner.” Bezos argues and I quote, “presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.” He adds, what presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it's the right one.” Joining us with more, CNN Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter. It's interesting that he wrote this, you know,  “presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.” BRIAN STELTER: Right. COOPER: Is that what this is about?  STELTER: For Bezos, it might be. And this might be the right decision., but at the wrong time. And he acknowledged this in his note tonight. By the way, I've never seen him write an essay like this. It's a reaction to the unprecedented pressure the Post is under. But I think he wrote this tonight because tens of thousands, possibly even hundreds of thousands of subscribers have bailed on the Post in the past few days. Even more might do it in the days to come out of a fear that he's capitulating to Donald Trump, that he's giving in to Trump. Bezos is saying that's not the case. He's doing this and says principled decision, but he's doing it on the eve of an election. And that's really the issue at the heart of this. He acknowledges maybe he had some poor timing, maybe he should have announced this earlier, but he's doing it because he wants to win back people's trust over time. In the short-term, though, he's lost a lot of his audience's trust.  COOPER: The- he also wrote, “there's no quid pro quo of anytime or there's- no quid-pro-quo of any kind is at work here.” That's a quote. The head of his Blue Origin had met with Trump, apparently, on the day the announcement was made, he says he didn't know about that meeting and it was an unfortunate… STELTER: Total coincidence, that’s right. A person close to Bezos says, no, there's nothing to do with it. There's no quid pro quo. Here's the thing: there's hard pressure, a quid pro quo, a deal with Trump, and then there's a form of soft pressure. And the real concern I'm hearing from Post reporters, from editors, from columnists, is it that- the form of soft pressure being applied here. The author of On Tyranny, Timothy Snyder, has talked for years about the idea of obeying in advance. That in democracies that are sliding toward autocracies, people try to obey in advance. That wealthy businessmen, the media leaders, that powerful people start to give in to the aspiring authoritarian whims in advance. And that's exactly the concern that exists here. In fact, Snyder came out over the weekend, said that's what he thinks is happening at The Washington Post  and The Los Angeles Times.  COOPER: Has Bezos said who he would vote for in this election? STELTER: He has not. But the paper under Bezos, when he owned the paper, did endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016, and endorsed Joe Biden in 2020. Strangely, Anderson, the paper actually endorsed the Maryland Senate Democrat candidate for the Senate just four weeks ago. So  this sudden change in endorsement, it's the timing that's created such controversy. COOPER: The owner of The Los Angeles Times sudden not to endorse as well. STELTER: Yes. And there's been the same kind of fallout. Not quite as many subscriber losses, but there as well, more than 10,000 subscribers canceling subscriptions. Basically an active protest. The only kind of protest that an audience member can have if you're paying for a publication that you can back out and the fear at both The L.A. Times and The Washington Post  is the same. That these owners are giving in to pressure from Trump ahead of the election, expecting that he will win. It's interesting Bezos cites of former editor or owner, I think, of The Washington Post  back, I think, decades and decades ago as somebody who didn't want there to be endorsements. COOPER: Right. STELTER: And this is true 50, 60 years ago, the Post did not endorse. But in modern history thePost has. More importantly, for a lot of the Post columnists, the opinion writers, they don't believe it is as important to endorse Harris as it is to condemn Donald Trump. They believe Trump is a threat to the American free press, and that he will impose draconian restrictions. And those fears are palpable in other newsrooms as well. I think that's why this story has resonated so wide and so far. But Bezos, he's saying he's trying to do the right thing, trying to restore trust in the media.  COOPER: Brian Stelter. Thanks so much. STELTER: Right. It is interesting that Stelter gets trotted out to talk about compliance here. STELTER, of all people, who did everything demanded of him by Jeff Zucker, no matter how ridiculous and over the top, which contributed in no small part to the absolute cratering of CNN’s ratings, which continues to this day.  That cratering bolsters the Bezos argument that underlies this segment, which is that no one trusts the media anymore. To put a finer point on it, people no longer trust the Regime Media. Thus, we witness Cooper but mostly Stelter fueling conspiratorial talk about quid pro quo and about the supposed chilling of speech, and of  voluntary compliance ahead of the incoming Trump Dictatorship. A more serious CNN would have contemplated the reasons underlying the public’s loss of trust in the media. “Democracy died” both in bias by omission and bias by commission. Bezos, at least, was honest enough to recognize this- even if his newsroom and their peers at CNN have not.  

Arabic readers are lambasting socialist Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York for publishing a flyer meant to court the Muslim vote with obvious errors. Ocasio-Cortez posted an image of the flyer to her X account, but she was immediately assailed for incompetently putting out the image without enough proofreading. 'This is offensive and a stupid own goal at a time when you truly can’t afford it.' "I can read Arabic so this is giving me severe psychic damage but I like to think that people who can't can at least see how wrong this looks? Like it is very very obviously not how Arabic looks even if you don't understand the language," read one response. Blaze News confirmed the error with a fluent Arabic speaker who said the mistake appeared to be on the part of the graphic designer who placed the text on the image without maintaining the proper direction of the letters. Ocasio-Cortez deleted the tweet after the ridicule, which was extensive and detailed. "Incredible. @AOC's team clearly didn't even bother to consult an Arabic speaker for their flyer targeting Arab Americans. All the letters are disjointed and the words are reversed," replied Tamara Nassar, an associate editor at Intifada magazine. "Today AOC presented illegible fliers with backwards Arabic script. The gibberish being a clear indication that neither Arabs nor Iranians work in her campaign," said comedian Chelsea Hart."No f***ing way," responded an account identifying as pro-Palestinian. "She is trying to grift Arab vote but clearly doesn't have a single Arab on her staff. Or even Central/South Asian cuz even they couldve pointed out the glaringly obvious error here.""I BEG you to have someone who knows Arabic produce or at least review your outreach materials," replied Egyptian-American Amir Beshay. "This is offensive and a stupid own goal at a time when you truly can’t afford it.""It is breathtaking how deeply unserious and racist @AOC is towards the Arab community," read another tweet. Ocasio-Cortez and others on the left have been targeted by the pro-Palestinian fringe of the Democratic Party over their lack of extreme opposition to Israel. The politician's own party, the Democratic Socialists of America, are considering to censure her for daring to sign onto congressional bills that acknowledge Israel's right to exist. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Armin Mizani, the mayor of Keller, Texas, explained on X why the joke made by roast comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico's trash problems will not sway him and many other Latinos from voting for former President Donald Trump.Hinchcliffe's joke at the Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday resulted in intense backlash for him and Trump."As one of the few Mayors in this country who is actually Puerto Rican (born and raised), lets get real for a moment and let me offer an explanation as to why [Trump] and [Vance] are surging in the polls amongst Latinos and why they’ll continue to do so through election day," said Mizani, who lived on the island until he was 9 years old.Harris' support among Latinos in Nevada and Arizona is small when compared to President Joe Biden's support."For Latinos, faith, family, and economic opportunity motivates us - not some bad joke by a comedian. America has had a first hand account of the two choices before us," Mizani explained. "Under the Biden and Harris administration, Americans have seen record inflation, an open southern border, increased crime, the weakening of the family structure, and the taking away of God from our daily lives."Under Trump, Mizani continued, "Americans saw secured borders, economic prosperity, a respect for people of faith, and a respect for American values. This is why I, along with millions of Latinos, will help re-elect President Trump back into the White House."Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) likewise said a joke by an insult comic may not appeal to everyone, but the real issue is what has happened under the Biden-Harris administration."What isn’t a joke is how Kamala Harris destroyed our economy and allowed dangerous criminals to illegally enter our country and terrorize, rape and murder Americans," Rubio said. "And what isn’t a joke and truly outrageous is how 'journalists' are helping Kamala [Harris] with her dangerous campaign of hate by calling Trump the new Hitler and how MSNBC used old footage of Nazi rallies TO SMEAR TRUMP SUPPORTERS AS NAZIS!"CNN reported Harris' support among Latinos in Nevada and Arizona is small when compared to President Joe Biden's support from that voting bloc in 2020. Harris is up 18 points with Latinos in Arizona, down from Biden's 24 points, and she is up only one point in Nevada, down from Biden's 26 points four years ago. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

On Monday, a battleground state's supreme court ruling delivered a crushing blow to election integrity.The Nevada Supreme Court concurred with a lower court's ruling that mail-in ballots that arrive up to three days after Election Day on November 5 "must be counted," even if a postmark "cannot be determined."The ruling was a significant setback for the Republican National Committee, which argued that ballots without a legible postmark should not be counted after Election Day.The court's decision upheld an August ruling by District Court Judge James Russell. Russell claimed that the ballots should be accepted to ensure that all eligible votes are counted.The court filing read, "If a voter properly and timely casts their vote by mailing their ballot before or on the day of the election, and through a post office omission the ballot is not postmarked, it would go against public policy to discount that properly cast vote.""Indeed, there is no principled distinction between mail ballots where the postmark is 'illegible' or 'smudged' and those with no postmark — in each instance, the date the mail ballot was received by the post office cannot be determined," it added.The Nevada Supreme Court determined that the RNC lacked standing, claiming it failed to provide sufficient evidence that counting ballots without a postmark would be vulnerable to voter fraud or that current security measures were insufficient to address the concerns. "The RNC asserts that it currently expends significant resources on election monitoring, but it would need to expend additional resources to specifically monitor mail ballots received without postmarks," the court filing read. "But the RNC already monitors elections. Accordingly, any additional resources it would expend would merely constitute 'continuing ongoing activities' or 'business as usual.'"The justices also rejected the RNC's argument that mail ballots favor Democrats. Five of the seven justices agreed with the high court's majority ruling. The two other justices concurred with the result but provided different rationales. RNC spokesperson Claire Zunk told The Hill, "Requiring ballots to be postmarked on or before Election Day is a critical election integrity safeguard that ensures ballots mailed after election day are not counted.""It is also a requirement of Nevada law. By allowing Nevada officials to ignore the law's postmark requirement, the state's highest court has undermined the integrity of Nevada's elections," Zunk added.Elon Musk responded to the court's decision, writing on X, "This is messed up."Musk urged Nevada voters to cast their ballots for Republican candidates. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a New York City hotel room in 2005, according to a new lawsuit.The California boy allegedly was interested in becoming an actor and/or rapper, according to Variety.The boy later woke up in tears with his pants undone and pain in his anus and buttocks, CNN reported.The lawsuit says the boy's parents hired a music industry consultant who recommended that the family travel from Los Angeles, where they lived, to New York to meet with music industry figures. The consultant allegedly arranged for the boy to have an "audition" with Combs, who reportedly requested to meet with the child alone before meeting his family.The consultant brought the boy to Combs’ hotel room and left him alone with him, according to the lawsuit. The boy reportedly performed a few rap songs for Combs, who allegedly told the 10-year-old he could “make him a star” and asked him how badly he wanted it. According to the lawsuit, the “plaintiff responded, as might any 10-year-old child, that he would ‘do anything.'”While in the hotel room, someone presented the boy with a soda. Shortly after drinking the soda, the alleged victim said he reportedly began to feel “a little funny.” The plaintiff’s attorney claimed the drink was spiked with drugs “including but not limited to GHB and/or ecstasy.” Combs allegedly instructed the child to move closer to him and pushed him down, then told him something to the effect of “you have to do some stuff you don’t want to do sometimes.” The complaint alleged that Combs exposed his penis and told the boy to “kiss it.” According to the complaint, the boy refused Diddy's sexual advances, but Combs forced the minor to perform oral sex on him. Soon after, the 10-year-old reportedly lost consciousness. The boy later woke up in tears with his pants undone and pain in his anus and buttocks, CNN reported.The 10-year-old allegedly told Diddy that he wanted to see his parents, and the Bad Boy Records founder reportedly threatened to hurt the child's parents if he said anything to anyone.Once the consultant returned, she allegedly noticed the boy was “badly shaken.” The child's parents said their son appeared “lethargic and acting differently" after the "audition." The lawsuit noted that since the purported sexual assault, the alleged victim suffered from “severe depression and anxiety, which leaves him hopeless and fatigued.”Second lawsuit involves 17-year-old alleged victimA second new lawsuit accused Combs of sexually assaulting an aspiring 17-year-old male music performer during a 2008 audition for Combs' "Making the Band" TV show, in which Combs determines the fate of entertainment hopefuls.During the first interview with the alleged victim — which was one-on-one with Combs — the lawsuit states that "Combs asked plaintiff hypothetical questions about handling situations involving sexual pressure.”“As Combs described these scenarios, he began to sexually assault plaintiff by touching plaintiff both over and under his clothing, including groping and fondling his penis and instructing plaintiff to undress,” the lawsuit alleges.The alleged victim claimed Combs threatened that he had the ability to “make or break” his career.At the second audition, the hip-hop producer reportedly told the teen to undress in order “to demonstrate the ability to embody a ‘sex idol’ persona.” “This encounter eventually escalated into Combs forcing the plaintiff to perform oral sex on him, and Combs sodomizing the plaintiff,” the lawsuit claims. At the third and final audition, Combs and his bodyguard reportedly sexually assaulted the teenager. According to the suit, the contestant was eliminated from the reality TV competition “as Combs claimed that plaintiff was untrustworthy due to his reservations about performing oral sex on his bodyguard.” The new lawsuits against Combs were filed in the Supreme Court of the state of New York on Monday. They are the latest lawsuits against Combs from attorney Tony Buzbee, who said he's representing more than 120 individuals in civil lawsuits accusing the music mogul of sex crimes over the course of more than two decades. Buzbee said the youngest victim was only 9 years old when Combs allegedly sexually assaulted him.Combs' attorneys did not address the specific allegations in the two new lawsuits but told CNN their client never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone.“As we’ve said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every new publicity stunt, even in response to claims that are facially ridiculous or demonstrably false,” Combs’ attorneys said in a statement. “Mr. Combs and his legal team have full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process. In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone — man or woman, adult or minor.”As Blaze News reported earlier this month, a lawsuit accused Combs and another male celebrity of raping a 13-year-old girl as a female star watched the alleged sex crime.In September, Combs was arrested and hit with charges, including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and interstate transportation for prostitution.Federal prosecutors outlined sex acts known as “freak offs” during which Combs allegedly organized the transportation of sex workers across state lines and internationally — and often recorded them.U.S. Attorney Damian Williams previously said, "The freak offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics — such as ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB [gamma hydroxybutyrate] — which Combs distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant.”Combs pleaded not guilty to the charges.Combs, 54, is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. He is facing at least 27 civil cases, and his criminal trial is scheduled to begin in May 2025.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Doug Emhoff Forgets Who Chants 'From the River to the Sea', Decries 'Antisemitism' at Trump's MSG Rally