Toronto van attack update.

The update today, two days after Monday's atrocity on Yonge Street, is that there's no update. There is no further news.

Well, there is "news," as in the police are dribbling out the names of the dead one at a time, with lots of coverage of each person. The names of the wounded have been posted too. Fortunately for me, nobody I know.

Then there are the inevitable pictures of concrete barriers rushed into place at Union Station to protect pedestrians, and the equally inevitable bleating by the usual morons about how we are "Sterilizing The City!!!" by putting up barriers.

So far there's no graffiti saying "Thanks, Justin!" on the new barriers, but in the wise guys of the world's defense it's raining today, and concrete doesn't take paint well when its wet. First nice day, they'll be out there.

There is also a continuing buzz about "Incels" on the major Canadian media, which is a confirmed 4Chan troll. Clearly they know its a troll, and they're running with it anyway because they've got nothing and they want to make those Alt-Righties look guilty.

In actual news, the mayor of NYC knew all about this van driver guy on Monday. As soon as the name came out, US authorities said he was on their radar for terrorism. None of that is in the Canadian media. But it is in the Brit and US media, if you duckduckgo the driver's name.

So that's your update today; lots of sorrow, special interest pieces and kvetching about barriers, zero information about the van driver. In two days they've peeled him like a fricking grape, and he's rolling over on his grandmother at this point. We get told nothing.

Welcome to Canada, where "you can't handle the truth!" is public policy. Shut up and get back to work, taxpayer.

The Phantom

Update: Welcome, vast swell of readers from Instapundit! Incidentally, today is May 2nd and we still have nothing better than "Incels" from police and government officials. Apparently the newspapers are printing "some guy in the jail said off the record that Driver guy said..." and that's what passes for news in Canada. Terrorism? Mental Illness? Suicide-by-cop? Something else? We don't know.

#Metoo turns to #ScrewYou!

The much ballyhooed $5 megabuck assault lawsuit against Russell Simmons has been dismissed "with prejudice."

A $5 million lawsuit brought against Russell Simmons by aspiring filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik has been dismissed, according to court papers filed Wednesday and obtained by TheWrap.

According to the papers, the suit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again at a later date.

"Mr. Simmons is hereby dismissed with prejudice from this action in its entirety including all claims asserted by Ms. Jarosik in the operative complaint," the court papers read.

The "with prejudice" part is the important bit, meaning the court found the complaint by Jennifer Jarosik to be without merit. Which is legal-speak for "Dude, this is bullshit."

While it was nice to see a lot of disgusting Lefty perverts getting their dicks caught in the car door, the female fruitcakes and gold hunters have frigged it up for everyone. As expected.

So here we are, back at "due process" again. It was a nice tantrum while it lasted, eh Lefties?

The Phantom

Van attack in Toronto.

So today a guy ran over a bunch of innocent people on Yonge Street. They released a name, I'm not going to repeat it here.

Its very hard to know what to say about this. So many people are dead, through no fault of their own, so many more wounded, and horribly wounded too it must be said. They were run over by a van, on the sidewalk.

The perpetrator was captured alive. Everything he knows will be drawn out of him in due time. I can wait before offering an opinion.

However I will say one thing. I'll be strongly reconsidering entertainment events in Toronto. Any situation where you're lined up on the sidewalk is a perfect target for vehicle attacks. As we know from London and Europe, as soon as there's one attack, there are more coming. There is nothing at all the police can do to prevent it, short term. The only solution is a personal one. Don't be a target.

My condolences to the families of the dead, my prayers for the wounded.

The Phantom

A great musician passes: RIP Avicii.

From the press release:

Artist, DJ, and producer Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii, died Friday afternoon in Oman, according to a statement from his rep. He was 28.

"It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii," the statement reads. "He was found dead in Muscat, Oman this Friday afternoon local time, April 20th. The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given."

Avicii is all over my playlist. This is a real tragedy, whatever the circumstances were. God speed Tim. The music in Heaven just got better.

The Phantom

Nice rant by Sarah Hoyt.

Sarah is in fine form on PJ Media, talking about John Ringo, one of my favorite authors of all time, being DIS-invited to an SF/F convention because the con management was afraid they couldn't guarantee his safety.

I became aware that something was going on between ConCarolinas (a science fiction convention in Charlotte) and my friend John Ringo, in a tiny private group on Facebook.  This is literally the group for my innermost circle, the people I trust.

They were talking about Ringo being Mau-Maued out of ConCarolinas.

I perked my ears up at this, first because of course, ConCarolinas has been a Baen adjacent con, meaning that Baen authors have more or less always attended, and I've heard stories of "so we were at con Carolinas, when—" and second because I lived in Charlotte for seven years and still have friends there.

It's been known for years – as long as I've been published in SF/F – that conservatives get invited to be guests of honor at conventions far less often than leftists in SF/F and infinitely less than red-diaper-babies in SF/F, but ConCarolinas seemed like a weird place for a conflagration of snowflakism.

I went over to John Ringo's page and read about it.  As far as I could tell, a bunch of people on Twitter had been badgering both the con-committee and the other (very leftist) guest about inviting someone who was… what the heck was he?  I don't know.

In the beginning, the accusation against him was that he was "Puppy Adjacent."

Sarah goes on to point out that Sad Puppies has been over for two years. Even the Rabid Puppies of coat-tail rider Vox Day has been over for a year, which tells you that every last candy has been beaten out of the WorldCon pinata. that thing is -empty-.

Which means the SJWs don't have anyone to push back against. We stood up to them, spit in their collective eye, flipped them off, and then walked away. Leaving them there alone, with nothing to do.

So they did what bullies always do. They ran after us and yelled for a while, two years for the Sad Puppies. Every other post from the Usual Suspect SJW blogs (no, I'm not giving those pricks a free click. If you're dying to see, check out Vile666 or floppy cameldung) has been raging on at those evil Sad Puppies. Now, this year, they can't stand it that we're still ignoring them. So they started shoving. I think we're up to three separate incidents of self-identified conservatives being dis-invited or pre-emptively barred from attending SF/F conventions. At least two, could be more as I don't pay that much attention to the drama. Joke's over, right? Moving on, right?

Nope. This is the hill the Lefties have chosen to die on. They're going to see to it that every single SF/F con out there excludes conservatives. One death-threat at a time if need be, apparently.

To which I must say, be my guest, you useless assholes. I can't boycott SF/F conventions any harder than I already am.

I used to stumble through a couple of comic book conventions a year, but last year they started frisking everyone. I have to put up with being frisked at the airport. They have guns. I do -not- have to put up with being frisked at a fucking comic book convention. I am not going ever again.

Conventions are entertainment. They are supposed to be fun. If every panel and every booth and every speech is a political soapbox used to bash my life, my culture and my freaking skin colour, am I going to pay money for that? Am I going to go someplace where people scream at me in the corridors because I have a Monster Hunter International patch on my jacket? No, not really. I'm not that different from other people. I expect that the conventions which allow SJW twitter mobs to dis-invite conservative authors will presently find out that SJWs are too few in number to keep a convention alive. Too bad, so sad.

The Phantom

Update: Welcome, vast wave of Kate McMillan's Flying Monkeys! She's got the Big Wing up tonight. ~:D

Starbucks abases itself.

Starbucks, after this shirtstorm here, will grovel and kiss the feet of SJWs.

Starbucks said Tuesday it will be closing all of its company-owned restaurants in the U.S. during the afternoon of May 29 to conduct a racial-bias education program.
"I've spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong and the steps we need to take to fix it," Kevin Johnson, CEO of Starbucks, said in a statement Tuesday. "While this is not limited to Starbucks, we're committed to being a part of the solution. Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities."
Some 8,000 of the company's U.S.-based locations will participate so that nearly 175,000 employees attend the training program that will address implicit bias, promote inclusion and help prevent discrimination.

This is the Lefty equivalent of the Moment of Silence on November 11th for Remembrance Day.

Update, from Ace of Spades who has this to add:

26. I don't even want to defend Starbucks; I want them to have the full taste of Social Justice Warrior progressivism. If this is the company's ideology, then they should live that ideology to the full.
27. I have a feeling Starbucks is just claiming this policy until the Social Justice Warrior locusts find a new business to harass, and then, when they do move on, they'll quietly shift the policy back to "Paying Customers Only," but I think it would be a hoot if conservatives monitored them to make sure they're sticking with this new, idiotic policy of letting anyone just sit and lounge without actually buying anything.
28. I think it would be funny if rightwing blogs made sure they were continuing this policy and made sure everyone knew they were backsliding when they do, inevitably, backslide into a non-insane position.
29. Because fuck them.

Indeed.

Why #BLM is doodoo.

Dear Black Activists: this is why we don't like you.

Two black guys got arrested at Starbucks. Racism, right? Well, no not really.

"What did they get called for, because there were two black guys sitting here, meeting me?" Yaffe asks in the video. "What did they do?"

Commissioner Ross said in a video posted to Facebook on Saturday afternoon that police responded around 4:40 p.m. Thursday to a 911 call reporting a disturbance. The men had refused to leave the cafe after asking to use the restroom without placing an order, which violated Starbucks policy, staff members told police.

The men were detained after they refused officers' requests to leave as well, Ross said.

"The police did not just happen upon this event — they did not just walk into Starbucks to get a coffee," he said. "They were called there, for a service, and that service had to do with quelling a disturbance, a disturbance that had to do with trespassing. These officers did absolutely nothing wrong."

How to avoid getting arrested at Starbucks: buy the cheapest thing on the menu before you ask to use the bathroom. I, a white dude, have had to do this before.

The Practical Phantom

TV discovers humor. But only in Belgium, sorry.

It seems a show that pokes fun at all kinds of things the New Puritan Progressives have forbidden is getting huge play in Europe. Shockah!

"This is the show that laughs with people who you should not really be laughing at," says its presenter, comedian Philippe Geubels at the start of each Sunday night episode on the Flemish public broadcaster Een.

The line-up of "victims/guests" on the first series included obese and poor people, dwarves, those with terminal and mental illness, gays, blind people and people of colour.

Geubels first invites them to spend a few days in the country with him where they tell their story to him and a documentary filmmaker.

A few months later the comedian invites them to a packed theatre filled with people like them to watch him do a hugely politically incorrect comedy routine based on them or their afflictions.

It's cripple humor. Just not the rubber-crutch kind, which is nice of them. Clearly these people are fascists.

So how many fascists are there out there, who needed a laugh?

The show has been watched live or on replay by more than a quarter of the country's Flemish-speaking population, according to Een, and praised for helping to take on embarrassment and prejudice.

"No matter how bad your situation is, you still have to be able to laugh. Not to laugh at people but to laugh at the little everyday things," Geubels told a theatre full of people with terminal illnesses and their families in one show.

The show's producers Panenka said it had already been bought to be shown or adapted in the US, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Finland, Denmark and Norway, even though the first series has only just ended.

Yep, as suspected, everybody in Europe is a fascist. And America. And Britain.

The Fascist Phantom

Actual fascism vs. the pretend kind.

Pretend fascist, Tony Robbins. No, really.

I didn't discuss famous life coach/motivational speaking Tony Robbins much in my series on Jordan Peterson and the wider phenomenon of self-improvement as gateway to fascism.

Point of information, this website, Cameltoe Flopatron, is nominated for a Hugo award for fan sites this year. So really, no surprises here. I advise against going there, that's the first line in that post and it goes rapidly downhill from there. Floppy Cameltron sees fascists everywhere. According to the flopster, Ayn Rand is a fascist. You'll feel stupider for half an hour after reading it

Actual fascist, this guy.

Richard Pan is a far left California state senator.

Pan recently introduced legislation to crack down on free speech on the internet.
Pan's legislation would force online publishers to utilize state-sanctioned fact checkers to approve content before it is posted online.
Jon Rappaport reported:
The bill is titled "SB1424 Internet: social media: false information: strategic plan."
It targets social media based in California. But as you read the bill, you see it appears to define social media as any Internet blog, website, or communication.

Its very simple, really. Under this bill you apply to a government censor for permission to make a blog post. You can say anything you want, as long as its government approved. Just like in Communist China, where it appears Mr. Richard Pan might be from. But he's a good progressive. Great guy.

So remember kids, if you want a Hugo rocket of your very own some day,  Richard Pan is a "brave, freedom fighting progressive." But Tony Robbins, Jordan Peterson and Ayn Rand are all "fascists."

Just so we are all clear what's what.

Update: Welcome, huge wave of visitors from Instapundit! ~:D Sarah Hoyt buried me again!

Update, Richard Osborn-Brooks murder charge dropped.

Here's some news, Mr. Richard Osborn-Brooks has been released by the London police, and they are saying he will not be charged with murder. Somebody blinked.

The pensioner arrested over the killing of a serial burglar who broke into his home has today been released with no further action.

Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, allegedly stabbed career criminal Henry Vincent, 37, at his home in south-east London this week, leading to the burglar's death.

He was arrested on suspicion of murder but has now been told that no action will be taken following discussions between the Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service.

On Friday afternoon, Mr Osborn-Brooks' house was boarded up and CCTV cameras were installed amid fears the pensioner might be attacked. 

Interesting comments from MPs on the issue:

A former Tory defence minister last night called Mr Osborn-Brooks' treatment at the hands of police 'absurd'.

Sir Gerald Howarth said: 'There's clear law on this. If an intruder armed with a weapon suffers fatal injuries, that's his fault. There should be no mercy for people like that.

'It's not only absurd, it's wholly immoral that a householder seeming to protect himself and his family and his property should be the subject of a police investigation - and he should not have been held in custody.

'There is clear case law on this involving a man some years ago in Fulham who had a sword on his wall. Confronted by an intruder, he ran him through with the sword. The householder was acquitted by a jury. The police force is in crisis. It is completely consumed by political correctness.'

Tim Loughton MP, a member of the Home Affairs Committee, said: 'Due process of law needs to take place but every constituent who has contacted me about it said (Mr Osborn-Brooks) should be treated as a hero rather than being in the frame for a crime.

'You are talking about a vulnerable 78 year-old pensioner with a disabled wife in a house interrupted by two burglars. Why on earth is he being investigated for murder?

There is no question that Mr Osborn-Brooks was innocent of murder. They took the man on Wednesday and didn't release him until Friday, over a mater of lif-or-death self defence. Which is obscene.

The police were clearly operating -outside- the law in this case, for reasons as yet unexplained. The lack of any sort of case must have been pointed out to them rather strenuously by the Crown attorney's office. One suspects higher influence being brought to bear, and then frustrated by publicity.

The Phantom

Knife control: The parody becomes reality.

A common joke of very long standing among firearms enthusiasts is "What next, knife control?"

Last week, TheBlaze reported the number of murders in London, a traditionally safe city, surpassed the number of murders in New York City in February and March for the first time in modern history. The murders were mostly carried out in stabbing attacks with knives.

Now, London Mayor Sadiq Khan is taking action — by implementing knife control.

What is Khan doing?

In response to the spike in crime, Khan deployed over 300 additional London police officers to the city's most crime-ridden neighborhoods to stop and search anyone they suspect is carrying a knife. In the U.S., such policies are very controversial and possibly violate the Fourth Amendment, but in England, police are able to stop and search anyone they suspect is carrying a knife.

The "tough, immediate" measures also ban home deliveries of knives and acid, two of the most common weapons in London today.

You can get home delivery of acid in London? Dang!

But here's my absolute favorite part here. I did not make this up, this is a direct cut-and-paste quote:

"No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law," Khan wrote on Twitter, sharing his new policies.

Seriously, this son of a bitch said "there is never a reason to carry a knife."

Keep voting socialist, my Leftard friends. Pretty soon, they'll be saying "there is never a reason to carry..." and it will be something you need. Like a cane because you have a bum leg. Or an umbrella.

The Disarmed Phantom

Ian Thompson vs. Richard Osborn-Brooks: which is the greater outrage?

In the news today, seen first at Small Dead Animals, is the story of Mr. Richard Osborn-Brooks, who was attacked by two armed men in his own home, and managed to drive them away by allegedly stabbing one of them.

A 78-year-old homeowner has been arrested by murder detectives after a suspected burglar he fought with in his own kitchen died of a stab wound. 

The pensioner, named locally as Richard Osborn-Brooks, was upstairs asleep with his wife when he was woken by the two men breaking into his suburban home in Hither Green, south-east London last night.

He was forced into his kitchen by one of the men, who was armed with a screwdriver, before a struggle ensued.

The intruder, a 38-year-old man, was left with wounds to his chest and local residents say he collapsed in a neighbouring road and died in hospital.  

The homeowner was initially detained on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm but was later arrested on suspicion of murder. The case has been compared to that of Tony Martin, who was jailed for killing an intruder at his home in 1999.

The break-in comes amid a surge in violence in the capital, with 49 people already having died in crimes in London in 2018. Last night's death brings the toll to 50.

So, arrested and charged with murder by the British Crown after defending himself in his own home, and letting the perps escape to boot. That's pretty bad. But I can top it.

Ian Thompson.

Early one August morning in 2010, four masked men shouting death threats began hurling firebombs at Mr. Thomson's home. One of his pet dogs was injured; several fires in and around his home were set.

Mr. Thomson, an experienced firearms instructor, called 911 immediately. He also armed himself with a .38 calibre revolver, stepped outside his home and fired three shots — one into his lawn, and two into a stand of trees. His attackers fled, and were later arrested. All four pleaded guilty to arson and disregard for human life, and were sentenced to between two and three years in prison.

So ended the first threat against Mr. Thomson. The next began immediately thereafter.

Mr. Thomson was charged with four crimes: careless use of a firearm, pointing a firearm and two charges of careless storage of a firearm, one for each of the pistols he had removed from his gun safe (the second, a 9mm pistol, was never fired during the incident). The first two charges were dropped — it's hard to imagine a more cut-and-dry case of lawful self defence than firing on men trying to burn down your home while you're inside it. But the Crown insisted on pursuing the charges of careless storage.

What tyrannical hell hole does Mr. Thompson live in? Port Colborne Ontario, down the road from me.

So while it is plain the the British government has decided that law abiding citizens are not allowed to use force to defend themselves, the Canadian government has decided that we are not to be allowed to even frighten deadly attackers away. We are expected to let them burn our houses down.

Just so we are all clear what the deal is, okay?

The Phantom.

Gun Control: working well in London!

Offered without further comment: London England, (an island, remember) has a higher murder rate than New York City. For real.

Gun control for the win!

The Well Regulated Phantom