[FoxNews] Johnson avoided the term 'takeover,' instead warning residents of a possible 'teen trend' on social media
One Chicago alderman is sounding the alarm after a recent wave of teen takeovers taking place under Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson, saying that police are "handcuffed" from stopping them.
Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, a Democrat, told Fox News Digital that the city is in for a "very long, very brutal" summer of teen takeovers and street takeovers if the mayor doesn't get a grip on the situation. He said policies in Chicago prevent police from correctly handling the teen takeovers seen in recent months.
"I do not believe that Mayor Brandon Johnson is doing enough to tamper down these activities," Lopez said. "What we have seen is Chicago has now become a destination location for illegal street takeovers like this where hundreds of youth are encouraged to descend on a location, and whether it's to do mob action, regardless of if he likes the term or not, illegal street takeovers with our vehicles or other activities that are criminal, people know to come here."
"They know they can get away with it, and they know that oftentimes our police are handcuffed themselves from stopping and interceding at these events," he said.
Lopez said that Chicago police officers are not allowed to "fully engage" with those participating in teen takeovers and do what's needed to stop them.
"We've never done what it takes to authorize our officers to fully engage with these individuals, to box them in, to corral them so that they can't escape, to arrest them, to impound their vehicles like the law requires us to do," Lopez said. "And we have never really pursued who is behind the promotions of these events on social media. We know that they are spread online through Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and others, but yet we do almost nothing to find who is at the root of those posts of these gatherings."
Lopez's remarks come after no arrests were made at a South Side street takeover over the weekend, underscoring his complaints about a lack of accountability for organizers.
Video taken from Chicago's Gresham neighborhood over the weekend shows a large group of people surrounding a totaled car on fire, according to ABC 7 News. One individual was seen throwing an object into the car, engulfed in flames, which exploded seconds later.
[YouTube] Even in a clear self defense shooting, the prosecution will try everything they can to get a guilty verdict. Massad Ayoob looks at the difference between the two phrases "Shoot to Stop" and "Shoot to Kill." Massad explains "Mens Rea," which is latin for "the guilty mind." He examines the case of Texas vs Amber Guyger. Be prepared to answer to the questions "Why do you carry a gun?" and "Did you shoot to kill?" Words mean things!
#2
@1 The counter argument is that a FMJ projectile will not stop an attacker unless the central nervous system (brain/spine) is hit or some other critical organ is hit (heart). Additionally FMJ bullets tend to go through there targets causing more blood loss and endangering bystanders.
Hollow points have been around for decades, I'm curious what specific brand was in question.
#3
This appears to be the bullet in question. It was invented in 2014. I don't recall ever seeing it in a store. For those that choose to carry, it is considered a good idea to use the same round as the police or Federal law enforcement.
#5
Fragmenting bullets are a stupid idea. Someone dying on the operating table hours after a defense shooting while the surgeons search for fragments is not going to help the shooter in the eyes of any prosecuting attorney.
FMJs have the advantage as they are probably the only round that is recognized under international law as not unnecessarily causing additional wounding. You could use that fact in your defense.
The newer philips head screw driver tip projectiles have the advantage that they tend not to over penetrate and as non-expanding they are probably legal in all 50 states.
Hollow points are illegal in some states and have expansion issues sometimes and preform poorly with some barriers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[CrisisGroup] Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, the main jihadist movement in the central Sahel, has embarked on an expansion that has put West Africa on alert. While territorial conquest is not the group’s main priority, threatened states should prepare by better understanding vulnerabilities and reviving regional cooperation.
What’s new? Founded in Mali in 2017, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is now the main jihadist group in the central Sahel. Since 2019, the al-Qaeda affiliate has also been carrying out attacks in countries along the Gulf of Guinea, including Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Togo.
Why does it matter? JNIM’s spread beyond the Sahel is a major security concern for West African countries, with Benin and Togo in the greatest peril. Yet expansion is not the main priority for the group, whose leaders are concerned that pushing outward too fast could fragment the movement’s ranks.
What should be done? Faced with the risk of jihadist expansion, the states under threat should deepen their understanding of local dynamics and their own vulnerabilities, revive cooperation with Sahelian countries, and identify possible understandings with the insurgents that could bring a lasting reduction in violence.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Founded in 2017, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) is now the dominant jihadist group in the central Sahel. Formed in Mali, the movement rapidly moved into Burkina Faso and Niger. From 2019 onward, it has also been staging attacks in countries along the West African coast, such as Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. The militant advance beyond the Sahel, particularly into northern Benin and Togo, has become a major security concern for these states. Yet, for JNIM, expansion presents a dilemma.
Though it allows the group to recruit and brings material benefits – and so is encouraged by the rank and file – the group’s leaders fear that pushing outward too fast could weaken the movement’s cohesion. Still, the risk is real. To deal with it, the states under threat, particularly those along the Gulf of Guinea, should deepen their understanding of local dynamics and their own vulnerabilities, revive cooperation with Sahelian countries, and identify possible understandings with the insurgents that could bring a lasting reduction in violence.
JNIM – the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims, in English – is heir to the jihadist groups that emerged in Mali in the 2000s and took control of parts of the country’s north in 2012, before being pushed back by the French military. Formed in March 2017, the movement pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, setting the goal of unifying the various Islamist insurgencies in Mali and confronting the international coalition assembled by France from 2013 onward. Unlike other groups rooted in communal or nationalist agendas, JNIM does not limit its fight to a single bounded territory. Shortly after its founding, it moved into two other countries in the central Sahel – Burkina Faso and Niger – before mounting deadly raids in northern Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Togo from 2019 onward. The latter two countries are the most at risk of further jihadist attack.
JNIM’s struggle in West Africa has two theatres. The Sahel is the most important. The movement now controls vast areas in northern, central, southern and western Mali; it holds swathes of northern, north-central, western and eastern Burkina Faso; and it stages regular attacks in south-western Niger. In these territories, which are the most prominent in its messaging, JNIM has developed a form of governance that allows it to present itself as an alternative to the state. It has put in place a light administrative structure that is able to mete out justice, according to its version of Islamic law, levy taxes and otherwise exercise social control. So far, JNIM’s leaders have viewed coastal countries as secondary to their domain in the Sahel. The movement is nonetheless making inroads in these countries, first with discreet proselytising and then with open assaults on state forces and civilians.
[RT] Zimbabwe gold-backed currency undervalued against dollar – central bank
Zimbabwe’s gold-backed currency (ZiG) is undervalued by nearly half and should be trading much stronger against the US dollar, the southern African nation’s central bank has said.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mushayavanhu said on Friday that the ZiG should be valued at around 15 to the US dollar, compared with the official rate of about 25, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
“If we wanted to buy back all the local currency in circulation using our reserves, we could do so at an exchange rate of around 15 to the dollar,” Mushayavanhu said.
The ZiG was launched in April 2024 to replace the Zimbabwe dollar, which had been battered by inflation and repeated bouts of depreciation. It was billed as a currency backed by gold and foreign exchange reserves, with Harare presenting it as a key plank in its push to stabilize prices and eventually reduce reliance on the US dollar. Zimbabwe held 3.4 metric tons of gold reserves as of June 2025, according to official data.
In its 2026 monetary policy statement, the Reserve Bank said foreign currency reserves had risen from $276 million in April 2024 to $1.2 billion by December 2025, while a March policy committee statement said inflation had fallen to single digits and exchange-rate stability had been maintained.
Despite lower inflation and efforts to stabilize the currency, more than 90% of transactions in Zimbabwe are still done in US dollars, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) said. In a December report, the group said confidence in the local currency remains low, with many businesses viewing its current stability as artificial and unsustainable. The IMF has also warned that the central bank continues to support the exchange rate by selling foreign currency, meaning it is still heavily managed.
On Friday, Mushayavanhu admitted that the ZiG’s mismatch against the dollar reflected weak market confidence in the currency.
Fourteen years ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center named me a hate group of one. The honor wasn’t mine alone, I shared it with a sign outside a bar and a brand of gun oil.
What was behind the SPLC’s sloppy hate group designation of one man, a bar sign and other random items was its obsession with manufacturing a constant rise in ‘hate groups.’
Year after year, the SPLC would issue reports claiming that hate groups were increasing in number, and then fundraise off the urgent threat that they had invented.
I caught them doing it time and time again.
In 2017, the SPLC issued a report claiming that the “number of anti-Muslim hate groups tripled since 2015”. How did the leftist group arrive at this number? It listed Act for America, a patriotic organization started by a Christian refugee from Islamic persecution, as one group in 2015.
Then it listed 45 chapters of Act for America as separate organizations in 2017. Suddenly the number of ‘Islamophobic’ groups had tripled. Such pathetically obvious statistical frauds were all too common in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s work, but the media rarely questioned it.
Or why the SPLC seemed so bent on artificially inflating the number of supposed hate groups.
Next year however the SPLC listed a progressive town on its ‘Hate Map’ because there had been an online comment that proposed a Neo-Nazi book club should meet there. There was no evidence that the club existed, that it had ever met at the town or that the town had anything to do with it, but the town still found it impossible to get the SPLC to delist it. And media stories appeared for the first time questioning the SPLC’s methodology which proved to be made up.
#1
The SPLC. seemed to act as an FBI cutout doing things that the FBI couldn’t legally do themselves. Why did the FBI, a law enforcement bureau, want a relationship with an NGO for the purposes of doing illegal activities?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/23/2026 6:14 Comments ||
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#2
Other intelligence entities are firmly embedded in the Bureau. Using an NGO to change the direction of political events can be easily done with well placed operatives. We might view 6 Jan as an example.
[Bee] LOS ANGELES, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom took decisive action on Tuesday as he ordered California reservoirs drained in preparation ahead of this year's fire season.
To ensure that high-risk areas of the state would be rendered sufficiently vulnerable to hot, dry weather and high winds, Newsom had officials remove every last drop of water that could potentially be used in an emergency.
"We do this now so we can do nothing later," Newsom said. "I've ordered my team to make sure all of our reservoirs are at zero-percent capacity so that when the fires come, we are fully prepared to fail to protect our citizens."
The move comes after last year's devastating fires in Southern California ravaged neighborhoods and decimated thousands of homes. California fire officials said they were unprepared for last year's blazes, but were more determined than ever to make sure the same things can happen this year.
"I applaud the governor for his efforts to prepare adequately for this year's fire season," Fire Battalion Chief Carrie Bingham told the media. "We don't want our reservoirs full, that might send the wrong message that we actually want to fight these things."
Newsom said he would do everything in his power as governor to make sure the reservoirs were empty and ready to go. "We will spare no expense to prepare for the possibility of fires, even if it means spending billions to empty every reservoir in the state."
At publishing time, Governor Newsom had also committed to hiring only gay indigenous quadriplegic trans fire chiefs.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/23/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1771 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
[FoxNews] President Donald Trump made a difficult but ultimately correct decision in striking the Islamic Republic. For years, the regime’s nuclear advances, missile expansion and regional terrorism were allowed to grow while the world hesitated. At home, it carried out one of the most brutal crackdowns on street protesters in modern Iranian history. None of this was theoretical. The regime was becoming more dangerous by the year.
The strikes changed that trajectory. Iran suffered serious military losses. Its nuclear infrastructure was heavily damaged. Its missile capacity was sharply reduced. Senior figures were eliminated. For the first time in years, the regime was forced onto the defensive.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
04/23/2026 08:34 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1790 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Fox News host Sean Hannity said the situation in Iran is a "nightmare scenario" for the country's government and its people.
"According to the White House, a beaten, a battered, now near close to bankrupt Iran and government there will have no more than 3 to 5 days to present what would be a unified response to the president's peace proposal, let me make this very simple. If anyone in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard or any other faction of Iran's well remaining government is watching or you hear about this, your unified response, it better look like this: no nukes, no terrorism, no attacks on the straight of Hormuz. And yeah, nuclear dust, you can't have it. This is not a crazy list. Not that complicated. And it's not too much to ask. In return, in return, you will get to live. In return, your own people will have a shot at an economy that is not destroyed. Not the radical Islamists who for 47 years have been terrorizing their very own people," he said on his show, "Hannity."
"In 3 to 5 days, Iran will cease hostilities, agree to the president's terms, come to a negotiated settlement, or they will face total destruction. Now, if they are foolish, for those of you in Iran tonight, you might hear about this. If you're foolish enough to think the president working at the request of Pakistan's prime minister to exhaust every possible path to peace and a negotiated settlement is just another opportunity to stall. Well, you're clearly the dumbest people on the planet, especially after Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, he continued.
Hannity added: "Now, Kharg Island is already largely defenseless, responsible for 90% of Iran's oil exports. And in just, well, frankly, less than an hour, the U.S. military could level the entire island, obliterate Iran's oil industry, and with it their entire economy. In about the same amount of time, the U.S. military can level critical infrastructure all across the country, force what's left of the regime to have to rebuild everything without almost any revenue. Remember, they're losing four to 500 million a day right now."
He went on to say that "it is a nightmare scenario for both the people and the government of Iran."
"But President Trump is prepared to act if the regime will not commit to opening the straight of Hormuz, giving up their nuclear material," he said. "Though time will tell. We will wait. We will all hope for peace. Although all hope for a negotiated settlement. Frankly, you have to expect the worst. They have made one dumb decision after another. But as President Trump has stated, America's military, they are locked. They are loaded. They're ready to go."
#2
What Hannity and many people aren't taking into account is the religious fanatics currently running Iran don't share the same world view as those in other parts of the world.
Japan in WWII is a good example of this, there were elements in the military that were ready to die as a country and as a people rather than surrender.
See John Toland's The Rising Sun (2 books) and Vice Admiral Natome Ugaki's Final Victory.
#5
The nightmare scenario is possible come April 28th when ostensibly the War Powers Authorization deadline takes effect. It would take very little to push the Senate RINOs off to the left and Trump must either deescalate or face impeachment for real. Just sayin...
#7
The longer we delay using nuclear weapons, the longer the war goes on, the worse it is for everyone including Iran. We need to get over this ridiculous squeamishness before the East Coast gets hit by an Iranian ICBM.
#11
The longer we delay using nuclear weapons, the longer the war goes on, the worse it is for everyone including Iran.
It's the Prisoner's Dilemma. First one to nuke the other one wins. But there is also an equilibrium where nobody nukes nobody. Getting there is the problem. In the opinion of this junior analyst, that is where Trump is heading, through a combination of threats and signs of being agreeable.
Unless the other Iranian factions can get the IRGC under control (doubtful), there will be at least one more round of "negotiations". (cue the Korben Dallas clip)
#12
Actually it is sort of interesting in watching everyone suspecting everyone else of 'turning a deal'. In this case ratting out the locations of your problem and allowing the Americans or Israelis to do the dirty work.
#13
Via Clarice on FB: Tousi TV
@TousiTVOfficial
·
31m
🚨 BREAKING: Islamic Republic’s Ghalibaf has resigned
The regime in Iran is falling apart.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/23/2026 18:45 Comments ||
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#14
In this case ratting out the locations of your problem and allowing the Americans or Israelis to do the dirty work.
Yeah, the temptation to drop a dime on anyone you ever had a beef with. I'm not sure my Islamic revolutionary zeal could hold me back. What was the number of the Mossad tip line again?
RUMINT says the IRGC leaned on Gollybaf to bail. Probably not a good sign, but not unexpected either.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Common drugs taken by millions of Americans during pregnancy may increase a child's risk of autism, a landmark study suggests.
As autism now affects one in 31 American children – a stark increase from one in 150 in the early 2000s – experts are searching for potential causes, ranging from better diagnostic criteria to pollution and medications.
Now, researchers in Nebraska have honed in on prescription medications that block the production of cholesterol. Along with statins, these drugs - known collectively as sterol biosynthesis-inhibiting medications (SBIMs) - also include common antidepressants and beta blockers, used to treat anxiety and high blood pressure.
While cholesterol can build up in the arteries and lead to heart disease, it's also crucial for forming protective brain cell membranes and synaptic functioning, which helps neurons communicate.
In the study of more than six million maternal-child health records, the team found that these drugs' ability to disrupt cholesterol pathways was linked to a 1.5-fold increased risk of a child developing autism.
In the study of more than six million maternal-child health records, the team found that these drugs' ability to disrupt cholesterol pathways was linked to a 1.5-fold increased risk of a child developing autism.
And for each additional SBIM prescribed, the risk increased an additional 1.3 times. Women who took four or more SBIMs ended up more than twice as likely to have a child with autism.
The study authors, from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, have urged pregnant women not to stop any of these medications abruptly without medical supervision. Instead, they encourage doctors to consider alternatives.
'Our findings do not suggest that these medications are unsafe for adults,' Dr Karoly Mirnics, senior study author and dean and director of the UNMC Munroe–Meyer Institute, said.
'But they raise important questions about their use during pregnancy, a period when even small biochemical disruptions may have outsized effects on fetal brain development.
The findings come after a major Danish study found Tylenol use was not tied to a 'significant' risk of autism, despite claims from President Donald Trump and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The new study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, looked at 6.14 million maternal–child health records from the Epic Cosmos database, which represent nearly one–third of all US births between 2014 and 2023.
The team also evaluated prescriptions for 14 different SBIMs. They included the antipsychotics aripiprazole (Abilify) and haloperidol (Haldol), as well as the anxiety drug buspirone (BuSpar).
Antidepressants included were bupropion (Wellbutrin), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft) and trazodone.
The researchers also looked at beta blockers metoprolol, propranolol, nebivolol, as well as statins atorvastatin (Lipitor), pravastatin, rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor).
Collectively, these drugs account for about 400 million yearly prescriptions in the US
Of the 196,447 children diagnosed with autism, 14.2 percent had prenatal exposure to SBIMs.
Additionally, use of SBIMs increased over time, from 4.3 percent of pregnancies in 2014 to 16.8 percent in 2023.
The researchers found mothers who were prescribed at least one SBIM during pregnancy had a 1.5–fold increased chance of having an autistic child, and for each additional SBIM, the risk increased 1.3 times.
Mothers who were taking four or more SBIMs during pregnancy showed a 2.3–fold increased risk of having an autistic child.
The brain contains about 20 percent of the body's total cholesterol, which creates synapses, or connections between neurons, along with protective membranes. Many children with autism, however, have low cholesterol, suggesting disruptions in their brains' communication networks.
The genetic disorder Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), affecting one in 20,000 US births, has also been shown to disrupt the brain's cholesterol–producing pathway, and 75 percent of children with this disorder also meet the criteria for autism spectrum disorder.
Stopping drugs such as antidepressants and beta blockers can lead to disastrous consequences, including withdrawal symptoms such as fever, chills, severe anxiety and heart palpitations.
Instead, the researchers urge doctors treating pregnant patients to evaluate all medications that could have sterol–inhibiting effects and look for safer alternatives.
Statins are manufactured by many pharmaceutical companies — the biggest include Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, Novartis/Sandoz, Teva, Viatris, Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s, and Apotex. These companies produce both branded and generic versions of statin medications.
- Research Markets.
#2
When there is a "spectrum", you get more or fewer, depending on diagnoses and what actually counts. Broaden the diagnosis, get more numbers.
Once they found out what Asperger had been up to in his spare time, all the Aspies disappeared. Far as I know, they're now autistic on the milder end of the spectrum. How much of the increase was that exercise?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/23/2026 8:12 Comments ||
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#3
That’s exactly what happened to the Aspies, yes. Also, think how unegalitarian to have a Dx that requires very high intelligence, whatever the other handicaps.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Bee] LOS ANGELES, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom took decisive action on Tuesday as he ordered California reservoirs drained in preparation ahead of this year's fire season.
