It’s a nice balmy zero outside Chez SP this morning, with a good stiff wind. I may go for a nice brisk stroll and enjoy the fine weather. And tonight, SP and I will have a quiet night in, with a fine dinner and a couple bottles of our best wines. But first, let’s serve up a pile of some steaming hot links.

In Germany, the reaction to widespread actual sexual assault on New Year’s Eve, which has become a tradition there, is to set up “safe zones.” Not actual zones where people will be safe, mind you, or areas where people can arm themselves for deterrence, but rather, areas where there will be people to talk to once the rape is finished.

…a team of medical professionals in a white tent only yards away will be standing by, waiting for possible victims of sexual assault and harassment to seek their help. Women will be able to speak to psychologists immediately after being assaulted or harassed in a “safe zone” at the Berlin New Year’s Eve event.

“[Assaulted women] can stay here and calm down or speak to someone trained to offer psychological support,” said Anja Marx, the spokeswoman of Berlin’s main New Year’s Eve celebrations. Up to five members of a German Red Cross team will be available to offer immediate support to victims.

 

More infuriating coverage of the SWAT cop murder. As is usually the case when there’s nothing to feed the race-hustler angle, the media outrage toward the cops is nearly nonexistent. 90% of the article is about the prank caller, with only one mention of the cop who actually committed the murder:

Wichita police have not said what action might be taken against the police officer who shot and killed Finch. Wichita Deputy Police Chief Troy Livingston said Finch moved his hand toward his waistband.
“Our officers came here preparing for a hostage situation. Several got in position. A male came to the front door, and one of our officers discharged his weapon,” Livingston said.
[CNN legal analyst] Callan said he doesn’t think the officer will be charged if the evidence shows Finch “went for his waistband in a way that looked like he was going for a gun.”
There you have it. Someone innocent shot down in his own home by the state jackboots, who are awarded free vacation and, when they inevitably claim psychological trauma, an early retirement with a fat taxpayer-funded pension. For the crime of (if the cops aren’t lying about this too) touching his own waist. Black Lives Matter was, of course, immediately on the scene protesti… wait, who am I kidding? I’m guessing that the victim’s family will be billed for the bullets, as well as the ER, coroner, and ambulance.
Speaking of cop murderers, we all remember Eric Garner, the guy murdered by New York cops for selling cigarettes without the blessing of (and payoffs to) the city government. His daughter became an activist with the right message:
She told CNN’s Don Lemon in 2014 she believed her father’s death had more to do with police misconduct than race.
“I can’t really say it’s a black and white issue,” she said. “It’s about the police officer and abusing their power.”
Erica died this week from a congenital heart condition. The other infuriating aspect of this was her family’s demand that any journalist seeking comment must be black. Nice way to spit on Erica’s legacy. Keep it classy, folks.

Zionist agents, kulaks, and wreckers are still trying to undermine the glorious democratic regime of the True Islamic Nation of Iran. Sheldon Richman hardest hit. Did I tell you about what the US did in 1953? I did? OK, let me tell you again…

Fuck all this, let’s have some Old Guy Music. I’m an unabashed fan of Matt Lorenz, who really is (that overworked word) a genius. One man band who builds his own instruments, plays them all at once, and does Tuvan throat singing (check out the little passage at around 1:40). And his songs are terrific. At the end of the last show of his we saw, WE were exhausted by the energy. How he manages it, we can’t imagine.