News and Views: January 10, 2025

L.A. Hit with Hydrant Crime Wave Prior to Current Fires  “Between January 2023 and May 2024, more than 300 fire hydrants were stolen from L.A. County streets, according to data from the Golden State Water Company, which manages the fire hydrants. That's led to a $1.2 million loss for the company.”

Los Angeles Fire Chief Warned That Mayor Karen Bass’s Budget Cuts Limited Wildfire Response: 'At Risk of Reduced Effectiveness' 

Bass cut $7 million from overtime, then allocated $5 million for electric fire vehicles

Gay Choirs, Trans Cafes And Social Justice Art: What LA Spent Money On While Cutting Its Fire Budget 

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The Grooming Gangs Of The United Kingdom: An Explainer  For decades, children, specifically poor white girls in various towns in northern England, were targeted and groomed by Pakistani-heritage men, while—as later investigations, court cases, and reporters revealed—local officials turned a blind eye to the abuse due to fears of being labeled racist or destabilizing community relations.

But it took decades to come to light.

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With the Trump Sentencing, the Verdict is in...for the New York Legal System With the sentencing of Donald Trump Friday, the final verdict on the New York criminal trial of the president-elect is in. The verdict is not the one that led to no jail or probation for the incoming president. Acting Justice Juan Merchan has brought down the gavel on the New York legal system as a whole.

   Once considered the premier legal system in the country, figures like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Justices Arthur F. Engoron and Juan Merchan have caused the system to be weaponized for political purposes. Trump will walk away from this trial and into the White House in less than two weeks, but the New York system will walk into infamy after this day.

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Islamic Terror Group Banned In Most Arab Nations And Vowing To 'Defeat' US To Hold Annual Meeting In Canada    The controversial Hizb ut-Tahrir, aiming to establish a global Muslim state under Sharia Law, is designated as a terrorist group in numerous countries, including the UK, Germany, India, and Russia.

   A Facebook post promoting its upcoming conference featured a video depicting a Muslim conquest. The event's location remains undisclosed, with details provided only to those registered via Eventbrite. The group is banned in most Arab and Central Asian nations, along with Indonesia, Pakistan, and several others.

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It Literally Looks Like A Nuke Went Off – We Are Witnessing The Costliest Fire Disaster In U.S. History By A Very Wide Margin   The blazes — which are ripping through some of the nation’s priciest real estate — are likely to cause between $52 billion and $57 billion in damages and economic loss, according to a preliminary AccuWeather estimate.
🚨NEW: VDH weighs in on the LA fires: “It's something like a DEI Green New Deal hydrogen bomb — the alarming symptoms of a society gone mad."

An incisive, two-minute breakdown of the political and ideological issues that led to this disaster:

“It was a total systems collapse… pic.twitter.com/QVyUFvcV2R

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 10, 2025