There’s always something to howl about.

Overnight News: If we can’t make faking a hate crime criminal, can we at least make it embarrassing?

Ya think it's easy?

“You think you’re a good negotiator, but I get paid in treats for stuff I was going to do, anyway.”

“They spray-painted all over our building – in our own incomprehensible jargon!”

The quote is a joke, but, alas, the news story is not. If that’s not a fake hate crime, bill me for one edible hat. If instead it turns out to be a fund-raiser, try to cultivate some wisdom from your wishful thinking.

I don’t care for hate crime laws, since they seek to police thought instead of action, and since, as here, they engender fake hate crimes – which should only be understood as actual hate crimes against the fictionalized villains.

Bah! The one thing we can count on, as every species of corruption proliferates, is that no one will call bullshit on any fake hate crime – since to do so would both undermine the thought police and spotlight how rare non-fake hate crimes are. Get away from big cities and universities and there are none of either.

The funny thing about these stunts is how invested people become in denying the obvious. Just that much could be cured with a betting site: If you insist the “hate crime” described in the story is not fake – bet against me. Your bet is your vote on the probity of the claimants, where mine is a vote for a statistically-demonstrable pattern of maliciously tendentious behavior. So, please: Bet against me.

I love me them ‘Faye’ names, and FayeKate.com is available. If someone smarter than me builds it, I will come. I can’t imagine the payouts will be that great, betting the odds on 19-1 propositions, but the statistical reporting over time will be edifying: People actually do learn better, if there are consequences for being in error.

Why are there so many fake hate crimes? Because, so far, it seems to be paying off. In this instance, the evil awful spray paint is held to be emblematic of ever-so-much worse hatred, the evidence for which, alas, is unavailable for inspection – but which, nevertheless, can be at least partially-palliated by PayPal. “Nothing happened, but you would not believe how much worse stuff is not happening out of your awareness! Send more money!” Even so, the underlying motive is probably less malice or greed than simply an insatiable Incandescent need: “Why don’t you care that I’m in paaaain?!”

So: Set me up with a rack of black chips. I’ll bet against bullshit all damn day.

In other news:

Housing Wire: Mortgage applications rise again, despite rates jump.

Redfin: More Than 4,500 Seattle-Area Homes Have Sold For At Least $100,000 Above Asking Price in 2021, Versus 400 During the Same Period Last Year. What’s going on in CHAZ/CHOP? What’s happening with all that multi-family housing generally. Redfin is at ground zero for the consequences of last year’s riots, but all they want to talk about is the far-away suburbs.

TechRepublic.com: Gartner: 51% of global knowledge workers will be remote by the end of 2021. What is actually keeping the suburbs going in rioted cities? The belief among careerists that advancement requires constant face time with the psycho of the microsecond. Here’s to the people who would rather switch than fight: All the world’s housing is yours.

City Journal: Prosecutorial Indiscretion: Progressive district attorneys decline to pursue certain offenses, usurping the legislative role.

Angelo Codevilla: To Rescue a Nation.