Canadian journalist Andrew Lawton’s “A Political Life” examines the life and career of Pierre Poilievre, a rising conservative star in Canada who is the odds-on favorite to become that country’s next prime minister. Focusing on a politician who is relatively new on the national scene—Poilievre just turned 45—and little known outside Canada, Lawton’s biography does an outstanding job of recapping Poilievre’s personal life and political career. Lawton concludes by contemplating what the future of Canada could be should Poilievre become prime minister.  Donald and Marlene Poilievre adopted young Pierre when his biological mother couldn’t care for him. Otherwise, he had a fairly normal childhood, but his parents separated when he was 20 and his father came out as gay. Poilievre makes it clear that he loves both his parents as well as his father’s gay partner. By this time, Lawton writes, Poilievre knew he wanted to be involved in politics. In fact, he knew this since age 14 and he sought to impress his fellow Western Canadians rather than the so-called elites. Poilievre officially expressed his political ambitions at age 20, when he wrote an essay for a contest held by Magna International, the Canadian auto parts manufacturer, on the topic: “As prime minister, I would … ”  He ended up as a finalist, receiving a cash prize and an internship with Magna International. His essay’s title: “Building Canada Through Freedom.”  Although Lawton notes that Poilievre prefers to keep his family life private, his book he gets into personal detail about how the conservative politician met his wife Anaida—also called Ana—as well as when the couple found out their daughter was autistic. In introducing the reader to Poilievre, the author explains Canada’s political system and contrasts its parliamentary system, in which the party with a majority in parliament chooses its leader as prime minister, with that of the U.S., in which the president and Congress are elected separately.  Poilievre’s wife Ana has supported his political races, which made him a member of Parliament for nearly two decades before he became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2022 and thus the leader of what Canadians call the Official Opposition. The Canadian media sometimes refers to Poilievre as the “Canadian Donald Trump” despite many tangible differences on the issues as well as style.  One cause with which Poilievre was identified closely is the so-called Freedom Convoy of early 2022. Canadian truckers were fed up with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates and chose to protest in the capital city of Ottawa to send a strong message to Trudeau. Poilievre took to the highway to cheer on the truckers as they made their way to Ottawa to protest. He even gave coffee to them. There was already a Conservative Party leader with whom a growing number of party activists were getting fed up: Erin O’Toole. O’Toole described himself as a “true blue” conservative rather than a progressive conservative, and many thought him to be former Foreign Minister Peter MacKay’s rival for the party helm. O’Toole narrowly won the Conservative Party’s leadership post over MacKay, but those on the right dominated the party and increasingly thought O’Toole wasn’t serving them as they expected. One issue on which grassroots conservatives were particularly upset was COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and they said O’Toole didn’t respect their view. Instead of doing what many Canadians wanted, they argued, O’Toole followed what others in the Trudeau government wanted—continuing imposition of government restrictions on the unvaccinated. Lawton’s biography of Poilievre goes into rich detail about his rise to power, his disposing of O’Toole as party leader, and his chances of becoming prime minister. The author concludes by envisioning Canada under a Prime Minister Poilievre and just what he would do with a majority in parliament to change domestic and foreign policy. (His slogan, “Bring It Home,” refers to making Canada a great country once again.) How and when Pierre Poilievre gets the opportunity to try to make Canada great again remains to be seen. For now, though, readers inside and outside Canada have a good guidebook to his thinking. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post A Good Look at Canada’s Future Prime Minister: Pierre Poilievre’s ‘Political Life’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Learning isn’t necessarily cumulative. Human experience over the centuries provides lessons, some clearer than others. But each generation has to learn lessons anew, and some do not. The lessons about economic growth taught over the long run of history are clear. Growth is not inevitable, and while riches may be accumulated, or appropriated, by the few in high positions, the lives of the very large majority throughout the centuries have been nasty, brutish, and short. The exception, the Great Enrichment, began some three centuries ago around the North Sea in the Dutch Republic and in England, according to economic historian Deirdre McCloskey, in societies when people began respecting and encouraging commerce rather than resenting and scorning it. They discovered that when people exchanged goods and services in free markets, with property rights secured by limited government and the rule of law, economies could grow in ways that improved the lives of not just the few but the many. Suddenly, and not just for a moment, the great masses of people went from living on $3 a day, just barely subsistence—and in times of famine or war, not even that—to $130 a day. The 20th century proved full of lessons for how to produce extended and widely distributed economic growth—and how to squelch it. Growth occurs when free markets are allowed to operate in societies with high levels of trust and the rule of law. It ceases, and living standards plummet, in societies where governments flood the economy with currency, try to control wages and prices, impose centralized economic planning, and outlaw voluntary market transactions. Governments sometimes impose such measures temporarily in wartime, with various results depending on the course of the war. In peacetime, the results are destructive—in Weimar Germany, the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong’s China, and, most recently, oil-rich Venezuela. And, perhaps, in Kamala Harris’ America. Since President Joe Biden ended his candidacy for reelection four weeks ago, the vice president has said remarkably little about what policies she would pursue as president. Her website has had no issues section. She has taken almost no questions and has undergone nothing like an intensive interview from the press—most members of which, in their enthusiasm for her candidacy, have shown no discomfort at her neglect. Only last Friday did she begin talking issues, announcing “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging”—she read the word as “gauging”—on food and groceries. Presumably, this was an attempt to address an obvious vulnerability for any candidate with a Biden-Harris pedigree, the fact that administration policy, by showering money on consumers already flooded with lockdown-accumulated cash, stoked inflation that no voter under 60 had experienced as an adult. But of course, this made no sense. The grocery business is highly competitive, with low profit margins. If one firm “gouges” consumers too much, they can go elsewhere. “It’s hard to exaggerate how bad this policy is,” wrote The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell. “At best, this would lead to shortages, black markets, and hoarding.” Rampell has since taken a different view after Harris’ actual speech backpedaled from her campaign’s fact sheet, but her initial take remains persuasive and in line with historic experience, including with the price controls imposed by former President Richard Nixon 53 years ago this month. Similarly economically illiterate is Harris’ proposal to give first-time homebuyers a $25,000 government subsidy. Just as colleges and universities have vacuumed up government-subsidized college loans for their own purposes, so obviously developers and home sellers are going to raise their asking prices by $25,000 and pocket the subsidy. As Jason Furman, head of former President Barack Obama’s second-term Council of Economic Advisers, said of the price gouging announcement, “This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality.” Is it fair to argue that Harris has learned nothing from the dismal history of price controls on the basis of just one proposal? Yes, if it’s just the only thing she has proposed in a whole month as the de facto and de jure Democratic nominee for president. And yes, as she has never personally renounced the similarly outlandish promises she made in 2019 in her campaign for the 2020 nomination—a ban on fracking, defunding the police, abolishing private health insurance, “snatching” drug company patents. Tweets from anonymous staffers ditching these policies don’t count. The delicious irony here is that the party favored by college graduates, many of them smugly confident of their knowledge and wisdom, is nominating a candidate who has shown no sign of learning from the dismal history of economic ukases. Learning isn’t necessarily cumulative. 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 The College Graduates’ Presidential Candidate Doesn’t Know Economic History appeared first on The Daily Signal.

High Drama: Canadian Gov Says Railroads Back to Work, Arbitration to END Strike That Fidelito...Caused?!

BREAKING: RFK Withdraws, Endorses Trump in Court Filing; UPDATE: RFK Speaks

For the late night comedy shows, the week of the Democratic National Convention provides the hosts with an opportunity to prove that they can make fun of Democrats in the same way they attack Republicans. However, a new MRC study shows they failed to do so this past week. In terms of quantity, the comedians hold 113 fewer jokes than they did during the RNC and 60 fewer jokes about Kamala Harris than Donald Trump. For the purposes of this study, analysts examined 20 episodes of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, and ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest hosted by RuPaul throughout all four nights of the DNC. Analysts looked at jokes told about Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and everything else related to the convention. We also analyzed what type of jokes were told and who the hosts brought on as guests to help them make sense of the proceedings. Finally, we compared the findings to July’s RNC. Who Was Joked About Throughout the week, there were seven jokes told about Harris, 13 about Walz, and 124 about everything else related to the DNC, for a total of 144. The Daily Show led all shows with five jokes about Harris and 45 about the rest of the convention. Colbert topped the count with six about Walz. To put those numbers in context, Trump was targeted with 67 jokes over four days, Vance had 28, and everybody else had 162 for a total of 257 RNC-related jokes. What Was Joked About It was not unexpected that during the week of the DNC, comedians would joke about Democrats. However, to identify themes, jokes were divided into ten categories: policy, character, personality, physical appearance, age, names, gaffes and bloopers, nonsensical statements, impressions, and polls. For a detailed definition of each, check the methodology section below.  Jokes about speakers' personalities or individudal quirks topped the list at 38. Jokes about age, mainly about President Biden, were second at 19, while impressions rounded out the top three with 18. The top three categories the comedians found interesting about the RNC were physical appearance, character, and personality, the last being the only constant between the two conventions. Jokes about physical appearances provided the biggest gap at 47 more jests about Republicans. There were 41 more jokes about Republican character flaws or moral failings, as well as 23 more jokes about GOP policy. Guests Unlike during the RNC, Colbert and The Daily Show took their shows on the road. While the RNC ratio of liberals-to-conservatives was 4:1, during the DNC it was 11:0 for a total of 15:1. The DNC Week guests were as follows: COLBERT: Hillary Clinton, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jefferies, Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez THE DAILY SHOW: J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Lauren Underwood, Wes Moore SETH MEYERS: Ramin Setoodeh Conclusion Even after President Biden dropped out, late night would rather tell “Joe Biden is old” jokes than ones about Kamala Harris or Democratic policies. While Republicans were lampooned as bad people, Democrats got the “you tease the ones you love” treatment. Gone were the concerns of overheated rhetoric and lack of national unity. The comedians, espicially Colbert and The Daily Show, also highlighted that when trying to understand Republicans, they bring on Democratic guests, and when seeking to understand Democrats, they also bring on Democratic guests. This week, the comedy shows took "Late Night DNC" a little too literally. *** JOKE METHODOLOGY: Policy: Ideas, stereotypes, or the party platform. Character: Moral failings, real or perceived, including scandals and showing excessive amounts loyalty to the nominee. Personality: Individual quirks, tendencies, hobbies, or other non-political traits. Physical Appearance: Includes things such as clothes, bad hair days, and unflattering photos. Age: How old someone is, including whether they’re too inexperienced. Names: Puns or other creative uses for proper nouns. Gaffes/Bloopers: Any flub, technical difficulty, or physical embarrassment. Nonsensical Statements: A statement that is not a mistake, but nevertheless deemed to be confusing or weird. Impressions: Voice imitations or the mimicking of signature mannerisms Polls: Popularity

Jon Stewart wrapped up The Daily Show’s week of coverage of the Democratic National Convention with a live episode on Comedy Central on Thursday where he promoted the idea that Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech proves “she doesn’t faintly resemble the caricature that's been painted.” Later in the program, actor Jason Bateman would narrate a promo video for Harris, where he argued she would simply be “a normal [bleep] president.” Stewart began his analysis, such as it was, of Harris’s speech by sarcastically claiming, “This is great, we finally get to meet Communist Kamala, the radical that we have heard so much about.”     That began a series of Harris clips, followed by brief bits of Stewart. First, Harris was shown declaring that “I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice [jump cut] A harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us!” After Stewart mocked conservative criticisms, “Okay-- Stalin!,” Harris was seen recalling, “This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people.” Again, Stewart mocked the idea she could be on the far-left, “Das vedanya, comrade?” A third clip had Harris claiming, “I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them. [jump cut] I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings, who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities, and I will tell you, these fights were not easy.” The faux-frustrated Stewart wailed, “Why aren't you doing the thing that they told us you were going to do? With the hammer and the sickle and the banderillos with the Jell-O shots in, why are you doing this?” In the final clip, Harris began, “On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.” As the cheers from the convention transitioned into cheers from the audience, Stewart waited an extended moment before claiming, “By the way, how funny would it have been if at the end she was like, but seriously though "Not for me. This has all been great, but I’ve been thinking it over.” By the way, if I was Donald Trump right now, I would just be tweeting nonsensical shit to distract from the fact that she doesn't faintly resemble the caricature that's been painted. By the way, that is what he was doing.” It is a convention speech, Harris was not going to say, “I was ranked the most liberal member of the Senate and even liberal Washington Post columnists are claiming I’m giving credence to the ‘communist’ allegation” because that would scare off independents, but both things are true. Later, during Bateman’s ad, the subject of Harris’s policies came up only for him to dismiss the concerns, “What are Kamala's actual policies? Just the vague ones you'd expect from a normal Democrat trying to get elected.”     After a snippet of Harris claiming, “Our fight is the fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom,” Bateman continued, “Yeah, great, sounds good, but at least they’re going to be normal policies, you won't have to learn about Project 2025 or Great Replacement Theory, or whether a president can serve his term while in prison. What the hell are we doing here, gang? I’ve been episodes of Ozark less stressful than this.” As for Harris-isms, Bateman, added, “Super kooky, right? So what. America has presidents with fun and energy all the time. What about Abe? He wore the big hats. FDR, stamps. Reagan, jelly beans, pounded fistfuls of them, and they were all presidents who didn’t cause Americans to shit themselves every five minutes, and that is a promise of a Kamala Harris presidency.” He concluded by declaring Harris “won't clear up after COVID with horse dewormer and a spritz of Clorox and one that can stay up past eight. A president who will eventually leave office, a president who won't have to flee to a non-extradition country if she loses. In other words, Kamala Harris will be a normal president. Just a normal [bleep] president.” What about having just a normal comedy show and not one that actively roots for one side? Here is a transcript for the August 22 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 8/22/2024 11:34 PM ET JON STEWART: But this is great, we finally get to meet Communist Kamala, the radical that we have heard so much about. KAMALA HARRIS: I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice [jump cut] A harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us! STEWART: Okay-- Stalin! HARRIS: This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people. STEWART: Das vedanya, comrade? HARRIS: I stood up for women and children against predators who abuse them. [jump cut] I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings, who threaten the security of our border and the safety of our communities, and I will tell you, these fights were not easy. STEWART: Why aren't you doing the thing that they told us you were going to do? With the hammer and the sickle and the banderillos with the Jell-O shots in, why are you doing this? HARRIS: On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.  STEWART: By the way, how funny would it have been if at the end she was like, but seriously though "Not for me. This has all been great, but I’ve been thinking it over.” By the way, if I was Donald Trump right now, I would just be tweeting nonsensical shit to distract from the fact that she doesn't faintly resemble the caricature that's been painted. By the way, that is what he was doing. … JASON BATEMAN: What are Kamala's actual policies? Just the vague ones you'd expect from a normal Democrat trying to get elected. HARRIS: Our fight is the fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom. BATEMAN: Yeah, great, sounds good, but at least they’re going to be normal policies, you won't have to learn about Project 2025 or Great Replacement Theory, or whether a president can serve his term while in prison. What the hell are we doing here, gang? I’ve been episodes of Ozark less stressful than this Of course like any person, Kamala has her personality quirks and her time as vice president brought them all front and center. HARRIS: I love Venn Diagrams. You know, the three circles? Who does not love a yellow school bus? You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? BATEMAN: Super kooky, right? So what. America has presidents with fun and energy all the time. What about Abe? He wore the big hats. FDR, stamps. Reagan, jelly beans, pounded fistfuls of them, and they were all presidents who didn’t cause Americans to shit themselves every five minutes, and that is a promise of a Kamala Harris presidency. A president who will not fall in love with the North Korean dictator or have a family member whose dick pics end up on a Congressional hearing. A president who won't clear up after COVID with horse dewormer and a spritz of Clorox and one that can stay up past eight. A president who will eventually leave office, a president who won't have to flee to a non-extradition country if she loses. In other words, Kamala Harris will be a normal president. Just a normal [bleep] president.

An illegal alien who was accused of attacking two New York Police Department officers in May — after which he was granted a supervised release — was just released on his own recognizance for a different alleged crime.According to a criminal complaint reviewed by the New York Post, 24-year-old Alexander Ayala around 3:30 p.m. Aug. 12 allegedly grabbed an unidentified woman's cellphone and Amazon credit card near the intersection of 11th Avenue and West 49th Street and then bolted on a bicycle. Ayala later that day tried to use the credit card at two businesses, the Post said, citing the complaint.'The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk.'Ayala was charged with two counts of third-degree identity theft and one count of criminal possession of stolen property, the paper said. Since neither charge is eligible for bail, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office — headed by Democrat Alvin Bragg — requested that the court grant Ayala supervised release, the Post added.Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Simiyon Haniff agreed, allowing Ayala to walk free on his own recognizance, the paper noted.Yet, Ayala at the time was already facing several charges for previous, more severe crimes.Earlier this year, Ayala was released from custody after he was charged with two counts of assault and one count of obstruction for allegedly participating in a brawl with NYPD officers at the Roosevelt Hotel, which is functioning as a shelter for illegal immigrants. On May 19, a group of people at the shelter were accused of attacking two officers who were responding to reports of a dispute between two groups of illegal immigrants. In addition to allegedly participating in the melee, Ayala was also accused of attempting to steal one of the officer's hats to keep as a trophy. Three other illegal aliens also were arrested for their alleged participation in the assault. One of the officers sustained injuries, including a bite on his left arm and bruises on his left leg. The other cop suffered head injuries and wounds on his arm. The NYPD officers were treated at a nearby hospital.Prosecutors in that case recommended Ayala be held in jail on a $20,000 cash bond or a $20,000 insurance bond and a $40,000 partially secured surety bond, the Post reported. Instead, he and his alleged accomplices were granted supervised release. At least two other individuals involved in the scuffle also were reportedly released for earlier arrests.What's more, Ayala at that time reportedly had a domestic violence charge on his rap sheet from December.He's expected in court Sept.12 for both the May assault and recent theft charges.Sources told the Post that the attack on the cops was similar to a caught-on-camera assault in January where a large mob of illegal aliens kicked and punched two NYPD officers in Times Square. A group of 20 New York Republican senators wrote a letter in February to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to remove Bragg. They slammed his handling of the Times Square assault, stating that his failed actions "must be the final straw.""The public safety of New Yorkers is clearly at risk," lawmakers wrote.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Yesterday was the final day for the Democratic National Convention. Kamala Harris officially accepted the nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate despite not receiving a single vote. In regard to her speech, Glenn Beck says, “This is one of the greatest performances I’ve seen in politics.” But he doesn’t mean that as a compliment. “If you respect truth and you're informed, you are beyond blood-boiling right now,” he says. “This is what propaganda looks like.” - YouTube www.youtube.com “I have never heard so many lies in my life,” he tells Stu Burguiere. For starters, Glenn says that in her speech, Kamala sounded like the former socialist president of Venezuela Hugo Chávez with claims that she’s going to “get people housing” and make sure “everybody has health care.” However, Harris, as well as other speakers, also took a page out of the Republican handbook by channeling (and even directly mentioning) Ronald Reagan. “Everything they’re saying is what Republicans actually believe in. They’re running like Republicans tonight. How many times did they mention Ronald Reagan? They mentioned him twice in a positive way!” Glenn exclaims. Stu agrees, adding, “They’re talking about how much they love the military, how much they love police,” which of course, contradicts every previous action and statement of the Biden administration. Glenn points to Kamala’s declaration that her “her experience in law enforcement” means that she “[understands] the importance of safety.” “Really? Tell me about that when you were bailing people out with BLM. Tell me how you are so strong on crime,” says Glenn, disgusted at the glaring hypocrisy. The mainstream media, which is just the marketing branch of the Democratic Party, is largely to blame for Kamala’s overnight makeover. “They have made her into a warrior, an angel, a saint, a huge patriot that just loves this country – loves everything about it and believes in the freedom of the individual,” scoffs Glenn, pointing to the days before Biden dropped out when Harris was widely disliked and criticized by the Democratic Party itself. But now that her makeover is complete and her problematic past essentially erased, she’s gotten “very convincing,” at least “on script,” says Glenn, adding that Trump will need to dismantle her lies, but doing so will be equivalent to “threading a needle.” “If I am a know-nothing, I vote for her,” he says. The question is: How many know-nothings are there in our country? And how many of them will head to the ballot boxes on November 5? “It’s terrifying,” says Stu. To hear more commentary, watch the clip above. Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Laughter is good medicine, and we at Blaze News are more than happy to contribute to the health of our readers with stories that not only inform but also get some guffawing going.While crime and stories about criminal activity generally aren't comedic, sometimes crooks do dumb things amid their capers that lead to their captures, and getting the lowdown on the degree of stupidity can be fuel for laughter.Video also showed two of the teen vandals brazenly twerking atop the hood of one of the cars.That said, we bring you part 1 of dumb things dumb crime suspects do. (Yes, there are plenty of brainless bad guys out there, and we want to cover as much ground as we can and keep the laughter alive, so part 2 is already in the works.)In this list, you'll get a taste of what it's like to have $18,000 in high-end merchandise in your hand and a free pass to run out the door of the store — only to smash yourself into a pane of glass (that must have been so spotless that you couldn't tell it was there) and get knocked out cold. There's a tale of crooks who unwisely chose to rob a jewelry store near a U.S. Marine recruiting station; suffice it to say, the Marines weren't having it. Then there's our story about a shoplifter who targeted a Walmart that was filled that day with 75 police officers doing a charity event for kids. Naturally, things didn't end well for the dumb shoplifter.So kick back and have a laugh at part 1 of supremely stupid crime suspects who gift wrapped their arrests for cops:Sheriff's office dubs duo 'dumbest criminals' of the week after they gift cops with extravagant clues that lead to easiest capture everThe Marion County (Florida) Sheriff's Office dubbed a pair of crooks the "dumbest criminals" of the week in October 2020 after they left evidence behind at the scenes of their alleged crimes.The arrestees were 41-year-old Robert Hobby and 23-year-old Marcus Reeves, WCJB-TV reported. Police said the pair went on a burglary spree in Ocala and Marion Counties, breaking into several convenience stores and stealing lottery tickets and cigarettes.But cops had no trouble catching them. Apparently, they left behind several incriminating items in the stores they robbed, including a shoe, tools — and at the top of the list, Reeves' wallet, which contained his ID. Police said Hobby and Reeves also were caught on camera smoking cigarettes in the stores while they were committing their crimes.The suspects were arrested after police went to Reeves' residence and confronted him with the evidence. Reeves reportedly confessed, and the two went on to face a whopping 14 grand theft and burglary charges.Stupid shoplifter tries stealing $727.86 in items from Walmart while 75 police officers are in store for 'Shop with a Cop' charity eventA woman who tried to shoplift $727.86 in merchandise from a Michigan Walmart didn't get very far — namely because 75 police officers were in the store for a "Shop with a Cop" charity event.State troopers from the Brighton Post were participating in the Dec. 2, 2023, event at the Genoa Township store, police said. Genoa Township is about an hour northwest of Detroit.Police said Shop with a Cop gives area children, through donations from local businesses, an opportunity to partner with police officers and shop for themselves and family."We bring children that might otherwise not have a good Christmas get to come to the store," Lt. Rene Gonzalez of the Michigan State Police told WJBK-TV. "They get $100, sometimes a $150 gift card to go and shop for themselves or family."But amid all the good cheer — not to mention a high concentration of law enforcement personnel — one woman got the bright idea to try a bit of shoplifting.Police said a Walmart staff member notified a trooper participating in Shop with a Cop that a female was trying to steal $727.86 in merchandise from the store. The 62-year-old suspect just loaded up her cart and waltzed through self-checkout, WJBK said."Groceries, clothes, all kinds of stuff," Gonzalez told the station. "It wasn't bagged up. And then she walked out of the store with it."She ignored a clerk who asked for her receipt, made her way to her car, and then began putting items inside her vehicle, WJBK reported.Police said the trooper Walmart notified had another officer look after the child he was with and then caught up to the suspect in the parking lot. Police said the suspect, strangely enough, had parked her car next to a gaggle of police patrol vehicles that were there for the event."I do have to say it surprised me because when I'm driving a patrol car, people slow down," Gonzalez remarked to the station regarding the brazen nature of the caper. "When you see 75 cops in the store, I mean, I don't know if maybe they thought we were too busy."WJBK said the suspect was arrested and taken to Livingston County Jail. The station added that while she bonded out, she will be charged with retail fraud. WJBK said court records indicates she has no priors — just some traffic tickets out of East Lansing — and that it will release her name once she’s charged. You can view a video report about the incident here.'Brazen' and brainless: Teen rips off $18,000 in Louis Vuitton merchandise, runs to store exit — and knocks himself unconscious after slamming into glass windowA 17-year-old thief sure picked the wrong day to leave his brains at home. The youngster was caught on surveillance video ripping off $18,000 in merchandise from a Louis Vuitton store in Bellevue, Washington, running for the exit — and then knocking himself unconscious after slamming into the store's glass door.It isn't clear when the broad-daylight caper occurred, but KOMO-TV ran a story about it Oct. 27, 2022. Fox News, citing police, said the suspect grabbed the pricy handbags off displays and tried to skedaddle from the store. The problem for the perp? An exit he apparently thought was there but wasn't. Indeed, he ran headlong into the plate glass and knocked himself out, KOMO said.“Brazen is the perfect word for it,” Bellevue Police Captain Rob Spingler added to the station.Prosecutors told KOMO the teen was part of a retail theft ring that includes a convicted killer and career thief. The teen's name wasn't released because he is a juvenile, Fox News said. Police told Blaze News the teen was arrested and then released to a family member. You can view surveillance video of the hapless would-be heist here.Smash-and-grab crooks quickly discover that targeting jewelry store near US Marine recruiting station is a really mindless moveA group of smash-and-grab crooks learned the hard way that targeting a jewelry store near a U.S. Marine recruiting office is exceedingly foolish.The incident unfolded at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California, on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2022. Police said four suspects wearing hoodies and covering their faces used hammers to smash glass cases at a jewelry store and then ran off with numerous pieces of merchandise.That's when Marine recruiters from a nearby recruiting office jumped into action.With the help of bystanders, the Marine recruiters were able to tackle two of the suspects and hold them down until police arrived. The two other suspects got away.A man who would only identify himself as Ralph recorded part of the incident on his cellphone and said he was doing last-minute Christmas shopping with his wife when he saw the robbery."[It was] the Marines. The Marine Corps. ... They stepped up, they tackled them down," he told KTTV-TV."Two got away, two got tackled down, and they stepped it up," he added. "That's enough. Time to fight back."The two suspects the Marines detained were minors, according to police, who also said officers recovered a "large amount" of jewelry. The jewelry store owner didn't want to be identified, but he said that it's a family-owned operation."It's getting wild in the streets now," Ralph added to the station. "It's about time to fight back, enough's enough. A lot of stores are closing down just for this, the smash and grab." You can view a video report about the incident here.Homeowner shoots burglar, but fleeing crook abandons car at scene. That dumb decision leads to his arrest — as well as a big break in crime spree.The combination of a gun-toting homeowner with a good-enough aim and a repeat offender who made a critical error leading to his arrest helped break open a Las Vegas-area crime spree.A Las Vegas homeowner in a gated community told police he was in an upstairs bedroom around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, 2022, when his dogs started to growl, KLAS-TV reported, citing an arrest report. The homeowner checked security cameras on his phone and saw four hooded and masked individuals attempting to break in to his residence, the station said.With that, the man went into his closet, got dressed, and grabbed his gun, KLAS reported. After the burglars got inside, the homeowner walked to a balcony that opens to the floor below and shot five times at three of the suspects, the station said, citing the report. All four suspects ran from the home, police told KLAS, adding that a bullet hit one of them.Afterward, police took note of an unregistered Audi parked in front of the victim’s home near Cimarron Road and Oakey Boulevard, the station said, adding that the VIN number was connected to a Texas woman with the last name Freeman. An hour later, a 28-year-old man — later identified as Leroy Freeman — arrived at an area hospital with a gunshot wound, police told KLAS.Police matched clothing seen on the home's surveillance video to two suspects — one of whom was Freeman — and cops arrested him on charges of home invasion, burglary, and conspiracy to commit burglary, KLAS reported. A second individual also was charged with the same three charges, but the name was redacted due to that person's age, the station said, adding that information on the other two suspects was not provided in the report.Turns out Freeman not only was wanted in connection with nearly a dozen burglaries, he also was under police surveillance days before the homeowner shot him and had served prison time, KLAS reported in a separate story.Freeman faced 11 counts of home invasion and nine counts of residential burglary in a suspected regional crime spree that began in November 2021, the station said, citing court documents and police records. Police in Henderson, Nevada — which is about 15 miles southeast of Las Vegas — wrote in court documents that in all the incidents, a group of two to four men wearing masks and dark clothing have broken into homes through back doors or windows, KLAS reported. By April 2022, Deonte Daniels, Cornelius Johnwell, and Fredrick Dotson also were under arrest in connection with the crime spree, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, adding that one minor also was arrested. Freeman, Daniels, Johnwell, and Dotson all were listed as inmates in the High Desert State Prison.Bungling burglar actually uses credit card he stole on Christmas Day to have pizza delivered to his apartment — but that merely scratches the lame-brained surface of a comedy of errorsSusie Wanner told KTVI-TV her family's Missouri home was burglarized on Christmas Day 2023, and gifts were stolen from under their Christmas tree — as well as credit cards.Police said 32-year-old Jacob C. Scholtes used one of the stolen credit cards to have pizza delivered to his apartment just two days later. Then things got interesting, according to details in a St. Louis County Police Department probable cause statement.By the time Jan. 12 rolled around, a male was arrested after he broke into the South County Mall, stole jewelry, and then tried to escape on an electronic scooter. Around 1 a.m. a mall security officer called police, who arrived at the mall and directed the suspect to stop. He ignored their commands and tried to scoot away, but an officer tackled him. He later was identified as Scholtes.Police also found the suspect was carrying a loaded Glock 23 on his right hip, a knife on his left hip, and had a ballistic plate over his chest. Authorities also found pepper spray, a fake security badge, and stolen jewelry. Investigators discovered a broken display case at L.A. Jewelers at the mall, and Scholtes was held on a $30,000 bond at the time.Then police collected data from the suspect's cellphone linking him to the Christmas Day burglary. Police searched Scholtes' apartment on April 24 and found one of the stolen presents and some Christmas gift wrapping scraps — along with a shipping label. Scholtes was charged with first-degree burglary and three counts of stealing, according to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.KTVI asked Wanner how she'd describe the burglar after finding out he used a stolen credit card to order a pizza. "Uh, I mean, not very smart!" she laughed in response.You can view a video report about the crime here.Dumb twerking teens caught on video vandalizing business. Dumber still? Gang symbols were carved into company vehicles — and arrests are soon made.Twerking teenagers were caught on surveillance video recently vandalizing a Los Angeles-area business called Pink Sponge Home Cleaning, KTLA-TV reported. The station said vandals broke into the Glendora business in the early morning hours of April 20. Surveillance video from a rooftop parking lot showed at least three teens carrying out vandalism, including blasting a fire extinguisher and chucking a large object at one of the company’s 25 pink Volkswagen Bugs, KTLA said.Video also showed two of the teen vandals brazenly twerking atop the hood of one of the cars.You'd think that today's teens are savvy enough to know that just about every business is outfitted with surveillance cameras but apparently not these two.Dumber still is that police told KTLA gang symbols were carved upon some of the Pink Sponge company cars, and that led them to a juvenile suspect — a 15-year-old gang member from La Verne who was arrested in connection with the break-in. Authorities added to the station that they have the suspect's cell phone and are hoping to use it to find the two teen girls who were involved in the break-in.Meanwhile, the outfit is picking up the pieces after 18 of its vehicles were heavily vandalized to the tune of $25,000 in damages, the station said. The co-founder of the company added to the station that their insurance claim was denied because Pink Sponge had been vandalized previously. A GoFundMe was organized to help the business with the cost of repairs and the loss of many of its supplies, KTLA noted.You can view a video report about the incident here.'You the dumbest f***ers!' Gun owner convinces cranium-deficient crooks posing as maintenance workers that no one is home — and when they try to kick down front door, he opens fire from behind itA Dallas man mocked two thugs who pretended to be maintenance workers before they tried to break into his apartment on Aug. 19, 2023.Ethan Rodriguez told WFAA-TV the pair showed up to his front door, and doorbell camera video shows them speaking to Rodriquez who tells them no one is home and that they need to return later. Except Rodriguez actually is right behind the door.The first suspect — who isn't wearing a mask — can be seen holding a gun and trying to kick the door down, and another suspect appears wearing gloves and a mask and tries to kick the door down as well. That's when Rodriguez starts to shoot at them from behind the door, the station said, adding that the pair ran off.Rodriguez recalled to WFAA in reference to the suspects, "You the dumbest f***ers for not wearing a mask 'cuz I even got your name! Ever since the video's been public, I got a name and everything. I was just waiting on the detective to call me!" He added that he didn't recognize the suspects, nor did he know why they were trying to get into his apartment.Police arrested one suspect and identified him as 30-year-old Aaron Contreras. He has been charged with aggravated assault, deadly conduct, and attempted burglary of a habitation. You can view a video report about the incident here.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

New York City police arrested two males — just 13 and 14 years old — in connection with a brutal, broad-daylight beating last month of a 62-year-man whose tooth was knocked out.The NYPD announced the arrests Thursday, the Staten Island Advance reported, adding that the two juveniles both were charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury.'The point is that it could have been anybody’s grandfather or grandmother just walking down the street minding their own business, and they’re assaulted, and that is just intolerable.'The attack took place around 6:20 p.m. July 15 in Staten Island, the Advance said. Surveillance video shows the moments prior to the attack. In the clip, nine individuals — all of whom appear to be males — are seen following the lone victim on a sidewalk. At one point, one of them appears to make physical contact with the victim, who quickly turns around. The group continues following the victim, who soon takes off running across the street — and another attacker takes a swing at the victim. The group continues to chase after the victim, who is shoved from behind — and at that point, the victim and the group are out of the video frame. An ambulance soon is seen arriving.Police said the assailants punched the victim and shoved him to the ground, the Advance reported, and the victim lost a tooth, suffered minor cuts, and was taken a hospital.The Advance in a previous story said Good Samaritans stepped in to break up the attack.“His mouth is all messed up. He was blindsided and kicked all over his body,” a relative of the victim who requested anonymity told the paper. “He fell flat on his face, not expecting anybody to hit him.”A third Advance story noted that the attack cost the victim about $5,000 in medical expenses, according to the victim's family members.Borough President Vito Fossella spoke to the paper about the attack.“The most important thing that the government can do, the most important thing that we share on Staten Island, is that innocent people shouldn’t be abused [or] assaulted," Fossella told the Advance, adding that “I saw a video of a pack of what appeared to be young people, who have gotten off a bus, walking up and down Clove Road for a few minutes. They antagonized and ultimately assaulted an individual who ended up in the hospital.”Fossella also told the paper that the victim "was just minding his business on a beautiful summer night, walking down the street, [and] he ended up surrounded by a pack of individuals" and that the victim in the process of running across the street away from the group "could have gotten killed, hit by a car.”Fossella also told the Advance that "the point is that it could have been anybody’s grandfather or grandmother just walking down the street minding their own business, and they’re assaulted, and that is just intolerable.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!