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“Well here is last week’s winner and this week’s entries.
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Vinyl Records Outsell CDs for the First Time Since 1987
NPR | March 10, 2023 | Kaitlyn RaddeVinyl albums outsold CDs last year for the first time since 1987, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s year-end report released Thursday.
It marked the 16th consecutive year of growth in vinyl, with 41 million albums sold — compared to 33 million CDs.
Streaming is still the biggest driver of the music industry’s growth, making up 84% of recorded-music revenue, but physical music formats saw a remarkable resurgence in the past couple of years.
The pandemic led to a spike in demand for vinyl records, driven largely by younger buyers. Vinyl has become a major part of artists’ marketing campaigns.
Vinyl revenue grew 17% and topped $1.2 billion last year, making up nearly three-quarters of the revenue brought in by physical music. At the same time, CD revenue fell 18% to $483 million, the RIAA said.
Mexican Cartel Apologizes for Kidnapping, Killing Americans
Hotair | 03/10/2023 | Karen TownsendA Mexican cartel turned over five of its members and a written apology for the kidnapping and murder of American citizens.
In the letter, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros, a Mexican woman who was killed by a stray bullet, and the four Americans and their families.
“We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter reads, adding that those people had gone against the cartel’s rules.
Seth Rich, Ashli Babbit, and the January 6th prisoners were unavailable for comment. Jeffrey Epstein said “It would have been nice to be around to hear an apology at least.”
Long quote from the article, but good fodder for mutter:
London Police Recruiting Illiterate Officers Who Can Barely Write English to Meet Diversity Quotas
Newswars | January 30, 2023 | Paul Joseph WatsonThey may also have criminal records…
The Metropolitan Police in London is recruiting officers who are illiterate, can barely write English, and may have a criminal record in order to meet diversity quotas, it has been revealed.
Yes, really.
A 2014 promise to have 40% of the force be represented by ethnic minorities by 2023 has fallen well short, with just 17% of officers being from ‘diverse’ backgrounds.
Matt Parr, the head of the organization responsible for inspecting British police forces, told the Telegraph that London, “which will likely be a minority white city in the next decade or so, should not be policed by an overwhelmingly white police force.”
In addition to the optics of a largely white police force being wrong, Parr said it was also, “operationally wrong, because it means that the Met does not get insight into some of the communities it polices and that has caused problems in the past. So we completely support the drive to make the Met much more representative of the community it serves than it is at the moment.”
That drive has however led to officers being hired who struggle to even write up basic crime reports.
…
Applicants to the police who can barely write in English are being accepted by the Met in an attempt to improve diversity, one of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has warned.
…
“They are taking in significant numbers of people who are, on paper at least, functionally illiterate in English,” said Parr, adding that the Met was “recruiting the wrong people” and that the diversity push had “lowered standards.”
However, Parr also noted that it was a good thing that the Met was “taking a risk” by hiring young black men who may have criminal records.
David Spencer, the head of the think tank Policy Exchange and a former Metropolitan Police officer, said that the diversity drive had lowered standards.
“There is a tension between volume, quality and diversity and something has to give,” Spencer explained. “Someone has to ask what is the most important of those three things and you have to be really careful because once you have recruited someone they are possibly going to be there for the next 30 years.”
As we previously highlighted, police resources in London are so stretched that major department stores have given up on calling them to catch shoplifters.
Car theft in London has effectively been decriminalized, with just 277 out of 55,000 offences being solved by Scotland Yard, a 0.5% success rate.
However, there still appears to be plenty of resources available to interrogate people for posting offensive social media posts.
Straight Line of the Day: ‘Ello-‘Ello–‘Ello? Things a London policeman might say: …
“You have the right to retain sirens…”
