Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to
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your support. Our numero dose underway. Pete calendar here, but
you probably knew that already. Seven oh four, five, seven
oh eleven ten is the call in number. It's also
the WBT text line driven by Saved with me Liberty
buick GMC on Twitter at Pete Calendar. There is no
D in calendar. There's no C in calendar. It's k
A L I N E R. I feel like there's
an open mic someplace. Do you hear it? Okay? I
can hear something. I hear heavy air. To quote Bob
Weir from The Grateful Dead during one of their studio sessions,
he wanted heavy air and nobody knew what the heck
he was talking about. It was probably the drugs. Actually,
all righty. So yeah, it sounds like there's maybe a
it sounds like there's a mic open. Oh there it is, boom,
all right, good good, good job. All right. So let
me start here. There was a piece over at the
Charlotte Ledger which I highly recommend people subscribe to I do.
This is a piece by Tony Massia about attending the
funeral for Arena Zarutska. She was the Ukrainian refugee who
was stabbed to death on the light rail car in Charlotte.
The service was held on August twenty seventh, five days
after her death. And it's a lengthy piece. I'm just
going to give you a couple of the highlights here.
Her sister urged people to love each other and to
be sure to tell those you love that you do
love them. She said it's very important to tell a
person once more. Her cousin Vera Faulkner also spoke and
said she said that her cousin Arena would hate all
of this, the you know, the somberness, the sadness. She
would want you to dance or listen to music, and
then said, smoke a cigarette. But I cannot advise that.
I should not advise that we are on FCC controlled airwave.
So I did not say that it's merely a quote.
To do something, paint something, kiss a flower. This dance
of life is so fragile, and she is way too
young for this, and you all know it. We all
know it. Do something with your life. She would want that.
This actually gets to the last hour's topic of all
of the crime. People who lack purpose, people who like
there is no purpose to life. Life is of little value.
Their life is of little value, and they throw everything away,
they destroy. It is evil. I've talked about this in
the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. There is evil,
and you can deny that all you want, and that's fine.
It doesn't make it so okay. Evil destroys, that's all
it does that. It does not know how to create.
It just destroys. Creation is of God, and that's why
people glorify God when they create beautiful things. And Irena
Zerutzka was a painter. She liked to paint, among other things,
creating things, creating beauty. The funeral director John Hill spoke
also at the funeral and said she took the hardships
of the struggles of the life that she had, and
instead of being down and out, she overcame them. She
experienced joy, she experienced happiness, she still had a smile,
and she'd want you to have that tonight. And what
does that speak to one of the other things that
we don't teach a lot of our youth nowadays, right,
which is that resistance to pressure builds strength. Overcoming challenges
and obstacles makes you better. You learn through failures, you
become wiser, you learn what not to do and how
to be successful. A failure doesn't mean that you are
a failure. It means that you failed to account for
some element of whatever it was you were trying to do.
So identify what it was that you didn't account for,
initially address that, and then overcome. And that's how you
build self esteem. It's how you become confident and secure,
and it's how you become successful. And even if people
stand in your way and they try to prevent you
from becoming successful, you go around them. Nobody can prevent
you from being successful if you keep working. And to
quote the philosopher Ashton Kutchner, that success looks an awful
lot like hard work. And by the way, this is
one of the things that people didn't know about Charlie Kirk.
I'm one of them. I did not know this until
I was watching Megan Kelly fill in for Charlie Kirk
on his radio show, and she had four people who
worked with Charlie. This was like his core group, like
his comms person, his assistant chief of staff person, like
all these people around him. And I did not know this,
but he had apparently tried to go to he had
applied to go to the I think West Point or Annapolis,
I'm not sure which, but he tried to get into
the military academy and he did not get in, and
that's where he wanted to go. He ended up then
being advised not to go to college. Why bother going
to college? I did cover that last week. I think
it was I think it may have been Victor David
Hanson who told him, like, you've already gotten everything that
people who go to college, you know, try to be,
so why bother? And you can learn all of this
stuff outside of a college setting. But he was highly disciplined,
highly disciplined. He never drank, he never smoked, He you know,
made sure he got his you know, eight hours of
sleep every night. No caffeine.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 1: He led a very kind of stoic existence, disciplined existence,
which makes sense. He had applied to the military academy.
He worked out all the time, He went on really
long walks that his staff hated because like he would
take them with them and they were like, oh, I'm
so tired. He read voraciously so and he had this
ability to account for like every minute of his day,
and so he was always doing something that was of
purpose except for one day a week, every Saturday. That
was when he unplugged, and that was he honored the
Sabbath on Saturdays, and he said, not doing anything, So
that's spending time with the family. All the other six
days he worked tirelessly. And his explanation for this, I
saw in a different interview was that this is biblical
because if you work every day, well, you're a slave.
And you're not a slave. So don't behave like one
this idea that everyone's out to get you. You're just
a victim of the system. You know, we used to
joke like the man is keeping me down all of that,
that's a victim mindset. You've heard me rail against this
victim mindset for years and this is something that needs
to be told to kids often all the time. You're
not a victim here, don't consider yourself to be a victim. Now,
this puts me and this idea directly at odds with
the modern you know, critical theories, this Marxist idea that
everything is power dynamics, everything is oppressor versus oppressed, and
all you need to do is find out which oppressed
category you fit in, and then you can rage against
the oppressor that's not making your life better. You want
to make your life better, stop thinking of yourself as
oppressed and start looking at yourself as an end with
free agency who can succeed, but you have to be
willing to try. Meanwhile, Charlotte Area transit system leaders are
coming forward with some details on plans to increase security
on the light rail system in the wake of Zarutzka's murder. So,
when I was a kid, my grandpa died with Alzheimer's,
and before he died, my mom and my dad took
care of him as he got worse. Forty years ago,
there were no treatments and not much support for caregivers
and family. But things are different today because of the
work of so many people, including the Alzheimer's Association of
Western Carolina. It's a great organization with awesome people with
huge hearts. I've been a supporter for twenty five years.
This cause means a lot to me. I participate in
the annual Walk to end Alzheimer's and I'm leading a
Charlotte team again this year, and it's called once again
Pete's Pack. You can sign up and you can join
the team and walk with us. It's on October eight tenth,
that truest field. Sign up at alz dot org slash
Walk and then you could search for my team name
Pete's Peck. There's also a link at thepetepod dot com.
There's also a link in the description of this podcast. Also,
I'll be am seeing the Gastonia Walk on October eleventh,
and so you can make a team and join that
one too, or make a donation and help me hit
my goal of five thousand dollars. If you do, I
really appreciate it. There are a bunch of other walks
all over the Carolinas. You can go to alz dot
org slash walk for all the dates and locations. We're
closer than ever to stopping Alzheimer's. Can you help us
get there? Will you walk with me? For a different future,
for families, for more time for treatments. This is why
we walk. Update here out of Illinois, a man who
Democrat Governor JB. Pritzker posed for a photo with earlier
this month at a peacekeeper event like these are the
violence Interrupters, has now been charged with murder. Thirty five
year old Kellen mcmiller was involved in a highly orcist
strated smash and grab burglary at Louis Vuitton store, which
left an innocent bystander dead seven hundred thousand dollars worth
of merchandise allegedly stolen. Mcmiller was charged with first degree murder, burglary,
and retail theft. Just days before the incident, mcmiller was
invited to a peacekeeper event where Governor Pritzker met with
local peacekeepers to discuss how to limit gun violence in
the city. Let's head over to the phones and talk
with Larry. Hello, Larry, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Hey, sir, Hey, appreciate you taking my call, Sir. I
was just wanting to comment on the fact that you
were talking about how the police don't well the police
do their job, but the courts don't do theirs. I
have a or. I had a neighbor that broke into
my shop numerous times, more times than I can even count,
just about everything I had, even to the point to
where he broke into my freezer out there and threw
hamburger and chicken out there because I had to pit
bulls and he didn't want to mess with them. But
surprised him when they said, we don't eat raw meat,
we wait on him to cook it. So they beat
him up pretty good, and I met him. I saw
him the next couple of days. He had his hand
all banded up, and I said, what happened, Mike, And
he said, I burnt my hand on my mama's stove.
But he was in his car in his front yard
and the police pulled up to make an arrest, and
he tried to run, and he literally ran across my
driveway and into my fence, and they stopped him, and
he was literally beating the hip out of the police officers,
and I hollered out from my porch. I said, you
don't many call the cops. We are the cops.
Speaker 1: So whatever happened, So this guy, he doesn't live there anymore?
Is he in jail?
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Moved away.
Speaker 3: Used to keep up with him by there's a thing
called the vine, and they're supposed to call me, yeah,
anytime he gets released. But he beat these cops. And
they asked me after they had put him up in
the car, and they said, did you see us hitting him?
And I said no, I didn't. I said I saw
him hitting you. And they said, okay, well we may
need to get back in touch with you, and I
said that's fine, and they took off. When I called
my wife all excited, I said, they got him this time,
beating on a cop.
Speaker 1: So did he ever go down for.
Speaker 3: Out sitting on his front porch before my wife got home?
Speaker 1: For he was already out.
Speaker 3: He was already out.
Speaker 1: By the times she got home. Yeah there, Well, there
you go, Larry. I appreciate the call. Sorry that happened.
I mean, this is the problem is that you've got repeat, repeat,
repeat offenders. There is a small portion of the population
that is responsible for most of the crime. Cops know
who they are, the court system knows who they are.
This is not just Charlotte, it's everywhere. It's always the case.
They're anti social people. So there is now a story
at Queen City News. After the Metropolitan Transit Commission met
this week, Charlotte Area Transit System leaders CATS leaders gave
some what is described as concrete details, some or more
concrete details. I'm not sure it would rise to that level,
but okay. The third party security group that CATS uses
to patrol and whatnot. The security group is now fully
staffed to patrol the blue line. Twenty off duty Charlotte
Meckleberg police officers will work with them. I think it's
supposed to say, we'll work with them to help increase visibility.
Starting next week, CATS leaders will roll out security teams
on bikes and utility task vehicles. The assigned officer for
the Blue Line there are no vacancies there. Unclear what
that means. It may be a misquote as well. The
assigned officer for the Blue Line. There are no vacancies there. Okay.
That's according to Interim CEO Brent Cagel. In addition to that,
we have eight hundred hours a week of additional CMPD
officers patrolling the blue line for the frequent riders, saying
they haven't noticed any extra security. Cagel hopes this will
change all of that. He says, the officers stay mobile,
so you may not see them every day, but you
will be seeing them routinely. Mecklinberg County leaders also use
the meeting to try to push forward the sales tax
initiative on the November ballot to fund transportation projects, noting
that the revenue may even help with safety. Well yeah,
City Manager Marcus Jones said, things have been floated about
maybe even cats having its own sworn force. So absolutely, positively,
the one cent sales tax provides additional resources for safety.
This is always the case, right, This is always the case.
Whenever they want to raise taxes, they use as a
sales pitch either the increasing or a deprivation of the
very thing that they're supposed to be doing in the
first place with the money that they already have, but
they divert away to pay for other things. Police, fire, right,
medic These are the things that you're supposed to be
doing first and foremost. And they're like, well, you know,
we need the property tax increase if you want that firehouse,
or if you want the police force, if you want
you know, cops on the beat, And now they're doing it.
With the sales tax referendum because they know they know
this is this is a very bad look while trying
to get people to vote yes on expansion of the
sales tax in order to fund an expansion of the
transit system when people don't feel safe writing it, and
you're not even bothering to make sure people are paying
the fares. So they know this, so they're like, well,
you know, if you vote yes, then we'll give you
that security that you know we should have already been providing.
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the details. Nate Morribeto, reporting for WCNCTV headline light rail
riders report fondling armed robbery assaults after Zarutzka's death. So
this has all occurred after Arena Zerutzka's death, and after
all of that went after the video was published, it
went viral, all the national attention, right, this is this
is what's been going on. And as I just mentioned
in the other report that Kat says, Oh, we've got
full staffing now at the private security firm. We're going
to add some more CMPD officers and you'll start seeing
that next week. So I guess criminals and fondlers better
get to it before more officers arrive on the scene.
I guess next week. Here's the rundown from WCNC. In
the days and weeks after the killing of Arena Zarutzka,
Charlotte Mecklemburg Police Department records show other light rail riders
reported getting bitten, hit in the face, robbed at gunpoint,
and forced to touch a person's genitals on and around
the light rail. WCNC Charlotte requested CMPD records since her attack,
and those records show just two days after her death,
a twenty year old man reported a suspect bit him
on both arms the morning of August twenty fourth on
a light rail train at the Charlotte Transit Center on
East Trade Street. On the afternoon of August thirtieth, six
days later, records show and unknown suspect assaulted a victim
by spitting or sorry by hitting him in the face
on the light rail platform on North Tryon. A police
report shows the case was cleared by arrest. In the
early hours of September third, a reportedly homeless man said
he was robbed at gunpoint and the suspect got away
with almost three thousand dollars from his cash app account
along East ninth Street. Just days later, on September fifth,
along South Boulevard, a fifty two year old woman called
nine to one one reporting somebody threatened her and then
forced her to touch him in the groin. The reports
all list the location of the reported crimes as the
light rail slash trolley. They include a handful of reports
of theft as well. What does our mayor say about
all of this? And in response to this request for
a response from WCNC, Mayor vyly Isles said, quote, Charlotte's
safety is one of our highest priorities, and no, it
should be your highest priority. It is the number one
priority there is. This always drives me nuts when I
hear people say that, Oh, that's our that's one of
our top priorities. No, it's either the top or it's not.
That's why it's called a priority. Okay, there is something
number one that is the top priority. Number one. It
is safety, slash security. Without that, everything else falls apart.
Everything else falls apart, all the things you want to build, right,
all the tourists you want to attract, All of that crumbles.
Nothing works without security, Without public safety, it is not
one of your highest priorities, Mayor, it is the highest priority.
She goes, want to say, I remain committed to working
with anyone who shares that goal. Okay, well, then I
guess I'm not interested in working with the mayor on
this because it's not one of our highest priorities. It's
the highest. And if she doesn't understand that, she shouldn't
be mayor. But her responses to all of this stuff
on the light rail line has been indicative of her
view on these items. I suspect she says, As I've
said before, no single organization or level of government can
solve the challenges of violent crime on its own. Real
progress takes partnership. While we mourn Arena Zerutzka's life, we
must also act we are taking steps to ensure the
public transit system reflects a safe city for everyone. If
we truly want to make lasting progress, both in the
immediate future and over the long term, it will require
a collaborative effort. Of course, there's no suggestion of what
that looks like outside of what hiring more cops. Now.
To her credit, I will say, in not her first
attempt at a response, and not the second attempt at
a respect. But her third attempt at a response in
the initial wake of the murder, after, of course, the
video went viral and she had to try to make
a response, she did identify the court system, and ever
since that one sentence in the third attempt at a response,
she hasn't said anything else about it. I've seen no
public pressure campaigns from her. I've seen no attempt to
exert influence that she has. She has influence. She is
a Democrat. This is a Democrat controlled city, this is
a Democrat controlled county. The courts are Democrat controlled as well.
She has influence. Democrats can exert influence to get these
magistrates and judges to crack down on career violent criminals.
North Carolina Representative Laura Budd she did a a press
conference the other day and she said at the press
conference over the last several weeks, our country has seen
violence ricochet around the nation. What a terrible framing. And
you know, you know she wrote that our country. First off,
you say our country has seen the violence around the nation. Right, Well,
you didn't need to say nation and country twice in
the same sentence, first of all, but to use the
word ricochet in the way. It just from here in
the Queens City with the absolutely horrific murder of Arena Zarutzka,
to the senseless and yet sadly familiar school shooting in Denver, Colorado,
to a third shooting in a college campus in Utah.
With Charlie Kirk She's a Democrat, she said, rising violence
in communities across the country highlights the need to address
the root causes of crime. All we have heard is
blame shifting, threats and what I call cheap political shots. Okay, well,
what are the root causes? This is what drives me
nuts about Democrats when they talk this way. They did
it with Kamala Harris and the illegal immigration problem. Right, Oh,
we got to get to the root causes. Well, how
about you can do all of the studying of the
root causes on your downtime. But first, how about we
stop the stuff from happening. How about we start there right,
stop the illegal flow of immigration at the border. Oh,
we can't possibly do that unless you pass our legislation. Well,
Donald Trump proved that one wrong. You can actually do
something in the short term. And this lip service about
root causes to me sounds like stalling. That's what it
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NFL Sunday Ticket slash terms, Limited time offer. David, Welcome
to the program.
Speaker 2: Hello David, Hey Pete, I really enjoy your show.
Speaker 1: Than thanks, sir, I appreciate it. Yes, sir, pay.
Speaker 2: A vile as as A.
Speaker 4: Megan Kelly call Yeah, and City council have shown that
they neither have the attitude or the aptitude to make
the train safe, and without.
Speaker 2: Safe trainings, that whole South Corridor Canyon of housing is
going to go the heck, yeah, why don't they just
sell the whole cat system and be done with the criticism.
Speaker 1: No, they're not going to do that, and I don't Yeah, entity.
Speaker 2: Would come in there and make it safe in a day.
Speaker 1: Well, I do believe that ad entity would make it safe.
But I don't think Charlotte wants to give up that authority.
Government never gives up this kind of authority, right because
it's a revenue. It's a way to raise revenue, like
for example, the sales tax to fund the bus system, right, So,
and that's like that's always been sort of the trade
of It's like, oh, look at the trains. Everybody loves
the trains, and meanwhile you're generating revenue to pay for
the buses that people otherwise don't want to pay for.
Speaker 2: But it's isn't it a national headache? And in a
point of embarrassment, it just shows their ineptitude?
Speaker 1: Yes, right now it is nationally Yeah, right now it is.
But before the murder of Arena Zarutzka, before that, no,
it was people held it up as a model for
national transit systems to follow.
Speaker 2: But you are written in a couple of times and
it's not safe. I I yeah, it's not safe.
Speaker 1: No, I agree, it was.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 1: It was poorly designed as an honor system open platform city,
and going back and trying to retrofit it now is
going to be very difficult and expensive, and they don't
plan to do that. They're going to try to, you know,
maybe crack down on fair skippers, but we'll see how
that goes.
Speaker 2: The they had an agent on every train. His presence
by tickets and making people pay would more than pay
for his being there. Yeah, can't they understand that?
Speaker 1: I would love to see the data run on how
how many well, and I guess we may find out
if they actually do fair enforcement, we may actually get
a glimpse or some understanding of how much money they've
been losing by not doing you know, fair verification.
Speaker 2: Well, well, with those losses. How was it held up
as an example of what's what a good train system is,
because a good train system is a long island railroad.
I mean click and the click click clip, man, he
checked your ticket. You are in trouble.
Speaker 1: Well, okay, so very few rail systems make money, so
that's not one of the metrics that they use. They
measure by ridership and they because all of them lose money,
so they all require subsidies.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: What makes the Charlotte uh sort of this uh uh
this profile in transit is that it was used to
spur development along the South Corridor. And that's what is
very well absolutely and that was one of the pat
McCrory said that that was one of the main reasons
to do it at that time, and he was exactly
right because the fixed stations then prompt that kind of
dense development along the corridor. But the problem is, yeah,
if it's not safe to ride now, no one's going
to ride it, and what's going to happen to all
those buildings. It's a very good point, Dave. I appreciate
the call. Have a great weekend. All right. That'll do
it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening.
I could not do the show without your support and
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thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything
while i'm gone,