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The hand basket
March 3rd, Kansas City: The world is going to hell?
Now, beginning of March and time to write a new article. But I admit, it is a hard one this month. Not because there is nothing to write about, but there is too much - and most of it is not nice.
Iraq sends finally ground troops to free Tikrit from ISIS. Now, what nobody dares to speak out too loud in the mainstream media is, that most of those troops are volunteers from Shiite militias, not regular army. So, no doubt, they will fight. They were very persistent in fighting our troops for years and they are the backbone of the Sadrist movement, named after former hate preacher and now government leader (thanks to Obama), al Sadr. So the Shiite militias go north to wrestle from the Sunni ISIS parts of land that is claimed by the Kurds (the ones who fought ISIS from the start). Trouble seems to be pre-programmed here, since the Sadrist block is still more or less controlled by Teheran while ther Kurds, of which a significant share are also Shiites, still give Iran the finger. Thus the Kurdish dream of an own nation will clash with Iran'S dream of a new Persian Empire right after ISIS is defeated. Well, that will take some time, so our sleepy politicians have still some time to build the base for the next Middle East crisis, I guess.

Net neutrality rears it's ugly face for the first time ... it took only hours. Have you ever heard of CJ Pearson? Well, he is a 12 year old. And he is interested in politics. Unfortunally for him, he is not a liberal singing Obama's praise. Instead, he echoed Guiliani's remarks about doubts whether Obama loves America. Facebook, in accordance with the new "Net Neutrality Laws" reacted fast: CJ Pearson's personal account is blocked by Facebook. Now, there goes the 1st Amendment! Freedom of Speech in Obama's new America? Forget about it!

CAIR sues the FBI over the death of Ibragim Tosashev. Now, one wants to make big eyes and mutter "what the hell????", but things are not so easy. Todashev was interrogated for seven hours in his own apartment in connection with the Boston Bombing. Then he attacked suddenly and was shot, depending on what soruce you believe, seven or nine times. CAIR accuses the FBI of a sloppy investigation into that matter and especially asks about the background of the agent who shot Tosashev.
Now, Todashev was actually connected and he actually attacked that agent, so far, everything is all curt & dry. But still, I wonder ... they interrogated him for seven hours in his own comfort zone instead of putting him in a box? Where did those guys learn interrogation? And then, this half a shirt of a guy, attacked the agent in the presence of several other agents. Well, as I found now, he was allegedly a mixed martial arts artist ... well, there were four agents in the apartment and it was a limited space. So, it is hard to imagine, martial arts or not, that there was no other way to subdue Todashev. Not because his death caused any loss for mankind, I somehow doubt that. But because his untimely death cause a loss of potential information for the interrogators. So, CAIR is wrong and it nothing but another "poor Muslim" stunt on thier side ... however, the FBI showed once more the same blatant ineptness they showed over and over again during the last few years and taxpayers may can sue them for being pricey and not doing their job?
Ukraine, oh yes, Ukraine ... there is a truce ... wait, that's between Russia and Ukraine, the rebels aren't even involved.


He is black, he is bright and he didn't sing Obama's praise, so he got banned from Facebook - CJ Pearson

The result is, the rebels will fight on and they will still have Russian support. So, by all means, diplomacy fails again. Not because diplomacy is a bad thing, but because diplomats didn't estimate reality correctly. And now, the same diplomats work on the Iran Nuclear Deals ... how great is that?

Chicago's mayoral race ... well, this is a fun show, isn't it? Emanuel Rahm, Obama's original Chief of Staff, didn't get his clear victory in the first run. Which is quite unusual for a Democrat in Chicago because usually, the result is clear weeks before the elections. Not this time. There is Jesus "Chuy" Garcia who came up strong enough to deny Rahm the victory. Now they battle for the second round and there is some chance, Garcia will become the first Hispanic mayor of Chicago.
Lets be honest here, we have two Democrats, both ran a race-based campaign, one for the blacks, one for the Hispanics. Because otherwise, when it comes to issues as the burden of debt, jobs, both candidates are on the same page. All that there is, is their different brand of racism. Don't you love the so-called "liberals" and their race-theory?
Here is the sad part: While they struggle about race and minorites, the crime rate in Chicago is still one of the highest in the country. Schools have been closed, not one or two but fifty under Rahm. Parts of Downtown Chicago are not ruled by the mayor but by gangs anyway. And after this all grew worse in the first four years under Rahm, he invested $7 million to convince Chicagoans that his campaign is allegedly all about making Chicago a better place for ALL Chicagoans. Of course, based in the votes of white liberals and the blacks, not on facts, not on issues, not on solutions. And Garcia sets on Hispanics and tries to get some of the black vote as well. So he bets on race instead of issues as well. Which, seen from the distance, doesn't look like anything will get better in Chicago regardless who becomes the next mayor. The liberal lalaland runs on racism, on race against race, high taxes and high debt, but not on solutions.

In Denmark, in a first, Denish social services removed a boy from his parents household out of fear of radicalization. Well, daddy was a Muslim known for his radical posts and opinions. So it is not an unthinkable thing. Now, why I found this interesting: We have teachers on schools preaching the very same things. Teachers ... we give out children into the hands of persons who spread uncontrolled ideology to malleable children's minds. Canda had the same problem and they are
still not sure, whether the teacher of three girls who went to Syria to become ISIS brides should keep his job. I am all for in dubio pro reo but there is a sensible balance between the rights of people to speak up for their beliefs and the protection of children.
Now, this was only the short list of what I found altely in the news that warranted a few more thoughts. Each and every of these subjects would probably be worth an article on its own, but then, in the summary, they basically establish also something in its own right. A feeling, that the world is going to hell in a hand basket and every day a little bit more. There have been times like this before in history. In different cultures, in different eras, but there have been times like this. For example, ancient Egypt had a phase in which they struggled to make up their minds about immigration politcs - their problem were Greek illegal immigrants leaving their home country because the economy there broke down (how familiar that sounds) - while their own governmental organizations failed on all ends. Funny thing, they thought also back in the days, it would be wise to let others fight in wars instead of going in themselves. No air strikes though back then. It backfired and at some point Egypt broke down in a civil war and became province of a stronger empire.
And, continuing the lessons of history there, it took some time, but in the end, the Roman Empire came into the same troubles, including the idea, to use troops of other peoples to fight their war, which led to the raise of Attile and the Huns who bit their peace out of the empire. Which then was already predicted when politicans suggested such solutions in the ancient Roman Senate, because some writers back then knew, it had already happened to Assur, Babylon and Egypt ... so, history repeats and the people fall always for the same shiny promises, always with the same result. Because at some point, reality will catch up and deal with those empty promises, those stupid ideas that sound so secutive and then, people wonder "how could that happen?" So, I expect nothing else this time. Things go down the gutter and everybody plays surprised. Business as usual in the longer view of history.

- PB -
... back
Tue, May 17, 2016
12:00 AM CT

Daniel Lee Siebert
Daniel Lee Siebert is now also in our serial killer collection. A more or less garden variety strangler type who got away longer than necessary bacause some big PDs dropped the ball ... and left it to smaller ones, to get the job done.

Fri, Dec 18, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Christman Genipperteinga
THe legendary robber along the wine road Trier-Cologne made it finally into our collection. With a total of 970 victim, including six of them his own children, he is currently the most prolific serial killer in the Collection.

Thu, Oct 22, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Gerard John Schaefer
The allegedly most prolific Florida Serial Killer, "Killer Cop" Gerard Schaefer, finally also made his way into out collection.

Thu, Sep 24, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Royal Russel Long
Long was quite messed up in the investigation of the Wyoming Rodeo Murders, but details show, he was another kind of animal, y typeless pedophile serial killer. Now his file is in our collection.

Mon, Aug 17, 2015
12:00 AM CT

The Wyoming Rodeo Murders
A story of misperceptions and midnless cabinet cleaning by police authorities that ended up with someone getting away with at least two murders on young women. Now in our collection.

Wed, Jul 15, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Joseph Vacher, the French Ripper
Now new in our collection: Joseph Vacher, the French Ripper. The first case, blood spatter analysis was used in a court trial world wide!

Sat, Jun 20, 2015
12:00 AM CST

No new addition in June
Usually, we try to bring another case up in our serial killer collection every month, but this month, we simply had no time. Between working open cases and other activities, it was just not possible. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Sat, May 16, 2015
12:00 AM CT

The Beauty Queen Killer
New in the serial killer collection: Christopher Wilder, the Beauty Queen Killer. A case that shows how nonsensical the disctinction between serial and spree killers really is.

Thu, Apr 16, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Burton W. Abbott
Abbott killed only one victim, a case that caused some public attention in 1955. But he showed all hallmarks of a fledgling serial killer and thus, we added him to our collection.

Mon, Mar 16, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Darren Deon Vann
Ha is basically the usual garden variety strangler case if it wouldn't be for the early warnings statistical data cretated about serial killer activity in Gary/Indiana. Now he is in our collection.

Wed, Mar 4, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Apologies!
Due to technical problems, the March article was up late. Take my apologies for this glitch.

Mon, Feb 16, 2015
12:00 AM CT

Affaire of the Poisons
We have added the infamous Affaire of the Poisons to our collection. With more than 80 offenders, it breaks a little the format, but well, it's one of the biggest cases of "organized" crime ever, so how can we let it out?

Mon, Dec 8, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Joseph Bryan
Once he made the FBI Ten Most Wanted list, now nobody remembers the case anymore. Nevertheless, the father of all allegedly schizophrenic serial killers has entered our collection.

Fri, Nov 7, 2014
12:00 AM CT

The Trailside Killer
David Joseph Carpenter has now become also part of the Serial Killer Collection ... complete with profile.

Tue, Oct 7, 2014
12:00 AM CT

The Vampire of Duesseldorf
Peter Kuerten aka The Vampire of Duesseldorf roamed the city at the River Rhine for more than two years and left behind a trail of bodies-

Fri, Sep 12, 2014
12:00 AM CT

The Grim Sleeper
Lonnie Franklin aka The Grim Sleeper has been added to our serial killer collection

Thu, Aug 14, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Michael Lee Lockhart
... and with a little delay, another serial made it into the serial killer collection. Michael Lee Lockhart, not so much interesting for his "achievements" but because his case appears as if he became a psychopath only after a serious head injury.

Tue, Aug 12, 2014
12:00 AM CT

A Game of Daggers
Diane's new novel A GAME OF DAGGERS is now available at Amazon for Kindle. A story of murder, mayhem and political intrigue set up in the year of the Lord 1096.
Pope Urban II has called for a crusade, but this news has yet to reach Cornwall. And people there have anyway to deal with other problems from storms to wreckers on their coast and when some murdered men are discovered on the beach, nobody guesses, this is only the prelude to much greater events coming to the so remote shores ...

Sat, Jul 5, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Ivan Hill
Ivan Hill, as the first of the many serial killers, who haunted Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s, is now added to our serial killer collection.

Sun, Jun 8, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Raya and Sakina
The famous Egyptian serial killers have become part of our collection. And as so often, things are not as simple as the urban legend tries to tell us.

Thu, May 1, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Dagmar Overbye
The infamous Danish baby farmer has been added to our Serial Killer Collection.

Thu, May 1, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Pharaoh Djoser added to the Egyptian Collection
I finally came around to add a new pharaoh to our collection: Djoser, 1st Pharoh of the 3rd Dynasty.

Fri, Apr 4, 2014
12:00 AM CT

The Green River Killer
This month, we added Gary Ridgway to our serial killer collection, a case, not so much interesting for the profiling but for the lessons about case organization to be learned from it.

Tue, Mar 4, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Manson Family
The "Manson Family&quo; has been added to our serial killer collection. Especially interesting for those who think, brain washing isn't possible.

Fri, Feb 7, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Hans van Zon
Dutch serial killer Hans van Zon joined our serial killer collection. Not entirely voluntarily though.

Mon, Jan 6, 2014
12:00 AM CT

The Syracuse Dungeon Master
John T. Jamelske aka the Syracuse Dungeon Master has been added to our Serial Killer Collection. While not a seria killer but a serial rapist, Jamelske represents a similar psychopathology as some OCD type serial killers, for example Dahmer and therefore is some valuable object for studies.

Thu, Jan 2, 2014
12:00 AM CT

Khasekhemwy
The last of the 2nd dynasty pharaohs, the man who re-united Egypt, is now also in the Egyptian collection.

Thu, Dec 12, 2013
12:00 AM CT

Pharaoh Sekhemib added to the Egyptian Collection
I finally came around to add Pharaoh Sekhemib to the collection, the sixth of the 2nd Dynasty. So, with some luck, I can finish this year the 2nd dynsty, only one, Khasekhemwy is left.

Tue, Dec 10, 2013
12:00 AM CT

The Riha disappearance
In 1969, Dr. Thomas Riha disappeared and in the subconsequent series of events, Gloria Tannenbaum was arrested for forgery and under suspicion of two other homicides. She plead not guilty by reason of insanity and got away with it. The case has now been added to our serial killer collection.

Mon, Nov 4, 2013
12:00 AM CT

Richard N. Clarey jr.
Clarey is one of the lesser known serial killers, skirting the definition a little. Still, for some reasons an interesting case.

Wed, Oct 2, 2013
12:00 AM CT

Now in the collection: William E. Cosden
A garden variety sexual predator, notable only because his existence shows, how wrong the idea of 1 monster at 1 time in 1 area is.

Copyright if not otherwise mentioned Peter and Diane Brendt 2010-. All copies, also in parts, demand the written consent of the copyright holders