Did the FBI "Plan" to Kidnap a Governor?, California Gov Recall a Coin Toss, Back-to-School Spending Explodes, Nigerian Government Ignores Mass Murder (The Five for 07/27/21)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
Let’s get into the news.
[one]
Accusations have surfaced that undercover FBI informants allegedly cooked up the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who was targeted for violence over her strict lockdown policy during COVID.
The New York Post reports:
There were at least 12 FBI informants involved in the investigation to thwart the alleged scheme by a militia group known as the “Wolverine Watchmen” — but the agents actually took an active part in it right from its inception, according to court filings, evidence and dozens of interviews reviewed by BuzzFeed News — and now some members of the group are accusing the feds of entrapment.
One informant from Wisconsin allegedly helped organize meetings where the first inklings of the plot surfaced, even paying for hotel rooms and food to entice people to attend, Buzzfeed News reported.
Another undercover agent allegedly advised the group on how to blow up a bridge to aid their getaway — and promised to supply them with explosives.
An FBI informant, who is an Iraq War veteran, eventually rose to become second in command of the group, the report said.
While they acknowledge attending training sessions with combat-style rifles and communicating with each other about their frustrations with Whitmer, they say there was no conspiracy to do harm to the governor.
The men allege the government set out to sabotage their militia movement that is based on the sanctity of the Second Amendment and their belief the government by violating the Constitution is no longer legitimate.
These allegations remind me of an incident in Chicago when the police left a truckload of Nike sneakers and Christian Loubiton heels in a “bait truck” and then arrested those who took shoes.
The truck was moved around the city, always in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods.
A truck loaded with Nike Air Force 1 sneakers and Christian Louboutin shoes turned up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago last week. It was a “bait truck” parked by Norfolk Southern Railway police, with assistance from Chicago Police, to lure thieves to their arrest. The truck traveled to more than one site in the predominantly black community on the city’s southwest side. Police arrested three people during the sting, which was intended to curb cargo theft in the area, according to Norfolk Southern.
We’re getting into some very Minority Report type of behavior here.
I certainly recognize the importance of undercover police work (for a great example, check out No Angel, a book by the first undercover cop to patch into the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang).
That being said, law enforcement should not play the role of temptress…there’s a huge difference in penetrating an organization to gain info to prosecute crimes that are already happening…and putting a mole in an organization to suggest and help plan illegal activity.
Of course, we don’t know if the accusations are true.
A rather blunt observation about the mug shots above is that the individuals are all rather unattractive. If I had to guess, I’d say they were all relatively uneducated, lonely, single guys with no real purpose or direction.
If this did happen, then it’s possible the FBI:
invited marginalized individuals into a group, gave them purpose (a sinister, disgusting one, but a purpose nonetheless).
offered them free stuff (food and hotels).
and then demanded they make a sacrifice to stay in the group and continue to enjoy the benefits, or risk being cast out and alone.
Which is exactly how a cult works.
Undercover police work should never mirror starting a cult.
Which does not absolve these would-be kidnappers from guilt (moral, at least, I have no idea how a court will decide this if the accusations are true), but it should push us to ask some big questions right now on where the lines of law enforcement should be drawn.
[two]
New polling data shows that it’s a coin toss on whether or not California Governor Gavin Newsom will be recalled in September.
The poll found that 47% of likely California voters supported recalling the Democratic governor, compared with 50% who opposed removing Newsom from office — a difference just shy of the survey’s margin of error.
Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who last week won a court battle to appear on the Sept. 14 recall ballot, leads in the race to replace Newsom among the dozens of candidates in the running, while support for reality television star Caitlyn Jenner remains low, the survey found. Forty percent of likely voters remain undecided on a replacement candidate, providing ample opportunity for other gubernatorial hopefuls to rise in the ranks before the Sept. 14 special election.
Caitlin Jenner, the former Olympian perhaps best known for the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, might have been considered an early front-runner due to the name recognition, but has abandoned campaigning (without officially withdrawing from the race) to film the reality TV show Big Brother.
Newsom’s handling of COVID restrictions as well as California’s growing homeless crisis (nearly half of the nation’s homeless are in California) are two of the primary reason’s he’s facing a recall.
Beyond the politics of one state, recalling Newsom could signal a bellwether on how many extended lockdowns Americans will tolerate.
[three]
There are certainty strong signals that the economy is slowing (vehicle and computer sales dipped in June), but families are spending like crazy on back-to-school items.
NPR reports:
That has set back-to-school shopping on a path to a new record, expected to top $37 billion. The National Retail Federation estimates that families will spend an average of $849 on back-to-school items, almost $60 more than last year, when people rushed to set up classrooms at home. College students and their families are expected to spend an average of $1,200.
The industry is watching back-to-school shopping as a key bellwether for economic recovery. Of all the retailers, department stores and clothing stores had the most disastrous 2020. Now they're gearing up for their best year yet.
Most families are stocking up on new outfits in preparation for a return to in-person school. But some are still planning for the possibility of remote schooling, or at least some elements of it.
Once again, electronics are the key driver of record-level back-to-school spending. People are buying more laptops, calculators, tablets and headphones.
Also, younger children are more likely to get a new smartphone this year, says the National Retail Federation's Katherine Cullen: "Maybe a purchase that the family held off on last year as kids were at home, but now they want their child to be able to ... make contact throughout the day."
Some families already got a head start on shopping for the school year when Amazon, Walmart, Target and others held huge summer sales. Now, parents are getting a new financial boost from the government: an increased child tax credit of up to $3,000 for school-age children.
This is a tricky situation to read into, as it’s likely families held off on these purchases last year (new clothes, phones etc.) because children don’t need as many (or as many new) items when school isn’t happening in person.
Of course, purchasing may not be a sign of long term economic health, as growing inflation likely means families are spending more to purchase the same back-to-school items they restock every year.
[four]
China has scrapped it’s infamous “one child” policy, and will now permit citizens to have as many kids as they want.
The announcement ended, in practice, decades of restrictions on the number of children each household could have, as authorities attempt to encourage births in the face of a rapidly aging population. Births dropped 15% last year, a fourth-straight year of decline.
China began loosening its strict one-child policy about six years ago after imposing it in the 1980s.
That meant for more than three decades, local authorities seeking to meet population targets often took harsh measures such as forced abortions and sterilization. Families’ preference for boys, especially in rural, farming areas, resulted in a large gender imbalance.
Families violating the one-child, and later two-child, policy faced hefty fines and difficulty finding a job. As recently as last year, state media reported local authorities fined a family 718,080 yuan ($112,200) for having seven children.
There’s been speculation that China’s economy could be headed for a financial cliff, as their population ages with a lack of young people entering the workforce in the coming decades, due to the Draconian family size policies that were enforced through violence.
[five]
In Nigeria, Islamic Jihadists have allegedly killed 3,462 Nigerian Christians in 2021 so far.
It is deeply saddening that till date those responsible for the anti Christian butcheries in the country have continued to evade justice and remained unchecked, untracked, uninvestigated and untried; leading to impunity and repeat-atrocities.
The surviving victims and families of the dead victims are also totally abandoned by the Government of Nigeria. The Nigerian Government has continued to face sharp criticisms and strong accusations of culpability and complicity in the killings and supervision of same.
The country’s security forces have so fumbled and compromised that they hardly intervene when the vulnerable Christians are in danger of threats or attacks, but only emerge after such attacks to arrest and frame up the same population threatened or attacked.
In the North, the jihadists operate freely under the cover and protection of the security forces; abducting, killing, looting, destroying or burning and forcefully converting their captive and unprotected Christians and their homes and sacred places of worship and learning. But the same security forces hatefully and brutally respond with utter ferocity against Southern and Northern Christians are accused of infraction or offending the law.
According to a report from CNN in March, the Nigerian government continues to spread the message that citizens are safe from violence, despite the rising death toll, including sending this seemingly false SMS message out as a mass broadcast to all Nigerians:
"Please be informed that the story of Fulanis trooping into Lagos for the past three days to cause chaos is baseless," the message said. "All security agencies have investigated this rumor individually and collectively and found that there's no iota of truth in it. Be advised to go about your lawful business without fear.
"All agencies remain committed to keep our state and country safe. We are fully alert. Thank-you and pass this message onto others."
According to CNN, the mass text was sent shortly after Muslim herdsmen massacred more than 200 in retaliation for alleged attacks by Christians on Muslim communities.
[epilogue]
Twenty one year old jazz pianist Fats Waller was exiting the Sherman Hotel in Chicago when he felt a gun jammed into his ribs. Shoved into a limo by two mobsters, the young musician worried his life was over.
Instead of being dumped in Lake Michigan, Waller was escorted into an exclusive nightclub where the mobsters presented him to Al Capone as a “birthday present.”
Waller was given unlimited food and champagne, and tipped by the party attendees.
When Capone’s “Boys” finally returned him to the Sherman Hotel, Waller’s pockets were stuffed with several thousand dollars in cash.
Until the next one,
-sth