CA Mayor Calls for "Purge" of Homeless, British Man Burned Alive in Ecuador, Tariffs May Revitalized...Thrift Stores (The Five for 04/22/25)
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Let’s dive into the news.
[one]
Ecuador, a country being torn apart by organized crime…is now descending into mob violence as well.
A man has been savagely murdered in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest by a baying mob seeking justice over an alleged shooting.
The crowd allegedly lynched the man, who has been identified in local reports as a British national, and burned him alive after storming a police station where he had been taken into custody.
The unnamed male, widely reported to be 'English', was held by uniformed officers on suspicion of shooting a local man dead, reports said.
But six hours after his arrest a crowd stormed the police station, dragged him onto the street and and set him alight in front of officers who said they were afraid to intervene.
Respected Ecuadorian newspaper Ecuavisa said the horror killing happened in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador's Amazon region, which is a popular eco-tourism area.
It is the second largest reserve of the South American country's 56 national parks and protected areas, and is located in the Putamayo Canton in Sucumbios Province.
The British national is said to have been handed over to police by locals around 6am local time on Sunday before being murdered just after midday.
Ecuadorian newspaper Extra reported officers who arrested him decided not to intervene when a baying mob forced their way into the police station ahead of his transfer out of the area.
Ecuador’s per capita income is just $6,700 per year…and a good chunk of that money is tied to tourism.
The thing about vacation is…people tend not to book trips places where they might get burned alive at a gas station. Tragic, all around.
[two]
Pay attention here…because the pendulum is swinging hard.
A Southern California mayor is under fire for wanting to eliminate his city’s homeless population by giving them “all the fentanyl they want” — a shocking remark he reinforced by calling for a federal “purge.”
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris shared his controversial views during a Feb. 25 city council meeting when a resident took issue with the city’s attempt to address the homeless crisis by “enclosing” the unhoused at an abandoned golf course near a residential neighborhood.
“What I want to do is give them free fentanyl,” Parris said as he interrupted the woman’s comments, according to footage of the meeting.
“I mean, that’s what I want to do. I want to give them all the fentanyl they want.”
The jolted resident told the Republican his statement “was not kind.”
But Parris, who’s been mayor since 2008, has no “regrets” about wanting to give homeless people the highly addictive, often lethal opioid, telling FOX LA in an interview Friday that he was referring to unhoused criminals who “refuse” to be helped.
“I made it very clear I was talking about the criminal element that were let out of the prisons that have now become 40 to 45% of what’s referred to as the homeless population,” Parris told the outlet.
“They are responsible for most of our robberies, most of our rapes, and at least half of our murders,” he added, without offering proof or data to support his claims. “There’s nothing that we can do for these people.”
Parris added that he didn’t think anyone would take his comments “literally,” explaining that fentanyl is “so easy” to get on the streets that it wouldn’t have made a difference if the city gave it away for free.
And while a fringe politician on the right is calling for a “purge,” the fringe left…is calling for more domestic terrorism and murders (note, I edited this down a bit, due to the author’s poor writing skills).
Evil has come to America. The present administration is engaged in barbarism; it has arbitrarily imprisoned its opponents, revoked the visas of thousands of students, imposed taxes upon us without our consent, and seeks to destroy the institutions which oppose it. Its leader has threatened those who produce unfavorable coverage, and suggested that their licenses be revoked. It has deprived us, in many cases, of trial by jury; it has subjected us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and has transported us beyond seas to be imprisoned for pretended offenses. It has scorned the orders of our courts, and threatens to alter fundamentally our form of government. It has pardoned its thugs, and extorted the lawyers who defended its opponents.
What remains for us to decide is when we fight. If the present administration wills it, it could sweep away the courts, it could sweep away democracy, and it could sweep away freedom. Protest is useful only insofar as it can effect action. Our words might sway the hearts of men, but not of beasts.
If the present administration chooses this course, then the questions of the day can be settled not with legislation, but with blood and iron. In short, we must decide when we must kill them. None of us wish for war, but if the present administration wishes to destroy the nation I would accept war rather than see it perish. I hope that you would choose the same.
But what to do? The rot of the present administration runs deeper than one man. The sacrifice of a hero is insufficient to save our nation, and a gust of wind on a summer day would not have saved us. For let us make no mistake; the problem is not one man, but a whole class of people. If one head is cut off, another would take its place.
Violence only makes sense as part of coordinated strategy. This is why protests are important – not as a way of changing the present administration’s actions, but as a way to coordinate a group. There may come a time when we shall have no guarantee of freedom but the one which we make for ourselves. If it comes, I tell you that there is no greater honor than he who lays down his life for his friends. Until then, we must wait.
Breaking this down:
A). This post is mega-viral…people see accused murderer Luigi Mangioni as a folk hero for killing a CEO…most of them are probably cosplaying and making weird cross stitch decorations to share on Reddit (side note, we really need an official term for female incels), but a few are not. And those few will murder.
B. Nah bro, you don’t get to twist the words of Christ “greater love” to be about murdering business leaders…on Easter week.
C. Outside of the U.S. Civil war…the times that things have been so bad in this country that political violence is called for…is never.
If someone wishes to glorify political violence, I would recommend you sit down with them, watch this video from the Liberian Civil War, and ask them how many people in their own neighborhood they are OK with dying like this.
Civil war is not glorious sacrifice. It’s you holding your cousins hand as he bleeds out after he’s accidentally shot by his own side.
D. Wherever you find yourself….work to speak reasonably. Take the temperature in the room down. We do not murder to work out differences in opinion.
[four]
The issue of mixed gender changing for school activities…is viewed negatively by an overwhelming number of parents in Deerfield, IL, a Chicago suburb where the topic has reached a boiling point with the community.
From Illinois Review:
A new poll conducted by M3 Strategies shows that an overwhelming majority of Deerfield residents oppose trans-identifying boys changing in girls’ locker rooms – weeks after Deerfield School District 109 officials forced girls to change in front of a biological male student.
According to the poll, which was commissioned by Dr. Dave Nayak, 67 percent of Deerfield residents oppose biological males changing in girls locker rooms, and 70 percent believe that boys should not be allowed to participate in girls sports.
The poll also found that 50 percent of residents believe the school district handled the situation poorly, and they should not have forced the girls to change in front of a trans-indentifying male.
64 percent of Deerfield school district residents also believe that girls’ privacy should be protected.
During a Deerfield school board meeting several weeks ago, Nicole Georgas spoke up in defense of her daughter, who felt uncomfortable changing in front of a biological male, but was openly mocked and harassed by transgender rights activists who were in attendance.
The early part of 2025 feels, politically, like both parties repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot.
Republicans with tariffs that will increase the cost of goods, and strain working class budgets…and the Democrats desire to die in the Trans Youth Sports hill…no matter what the public thinks, or what it will cost them (and has cost them) in elections.
In the immortal words of Dr. Phil…
[five]
And finally…the current tariff situation may drive consumers…straight to thrift stores.
Stores selling secondhand clothes, shoes and accessories are poised to benefit from President Donald Trump’strade war even as businesses the world over race to avert potential damage, according to industry experts.
American styles carry international influence, but nearly all of the clothing sold domestically is made elsewhere. The Yale University Budget Lab last week estimated short-term consumer price increases of 65% for clothes and 87% for leather goods, noting U.S. tariffs “disproportionately affect” those goods.
Such price hikes may drive cost-conscious shoppers to online resale sites, consignment boutiques and thrift stores in search of bargains or a way to turn their wardrobes into cash. Used items cost less than their new equivalents and only would be subject to tariffs if they come from outside the country.
“I think resale is going to grow in a market that is declining,” said Kristen Classi-Zummo, an apparel industry analyst at market research firm Circana. “What I think is going to continue to win in this chaotic environment are channels that bring value.”
The outlook for pre-owned fashion nevertheless comes with unknowns, including whether the president’s tariffs will stay long enough to pinch consumers and change their behavior. It’s also unclear whether secondhand purveyors will increase their own prices, either to mirror the overall market or in response to shopper demand.
Until the next one,
-sth