Enforcers category archive
Guilty Until Proven Innocent 0
Using the killing in Brunswick, Georgia, of Ahmaud Arbery as a starting point, Jennifer Rae Taylor and Kayla Vinson explore the history of lynching in America. An excerpt:
“[The South’s] police system,” scholar W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1903, “was arranged to deal with Blacks alone, and tacitly assumed that every white man was ipso facto a member of that police.”
Even after death, Arbery was denied the status of victim, and his killers were shielded from being treated as suspects. As during the lynching era, the mere claim that the dead black man deserved what he got was enough to satisfy the authorities and absolve the undisputed killers. In hundreds of the lynchings EJI (the Equal Justice Institute–ed.) has documented, the victims’ names are not known because newspaper reports did not bother to investigate even that deeply.
I commend the full article to your attention.
Great Moments in Covidiocy 0
That other epidemic–the epidemic of stupid–continues to spread.
Decoding De Code 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., translates William Barr.
The Surveillance Society 0
David and his guest, Kade Crockford, Director of the ACLU’s Technology for Liberty program, discuss biometric surveillance, privacy, facial recognition technology, the interactions of these technologies with law enforcement, and much more.
A quibble:
Methinks the conversation focused too much on law enforcement and not enough on Big Data.
For example, I keep the GPS turned off on my Android unless I have a positive need for it. On the rare occasions when I do have it turned on, I get creepy messages from Google asking how I enjoyed my visit to such-and-such business.
I understand that they can track the general location of my phone via cell towers, and I can live with that, but it’s none of Google’s damn business where I ate lunch, for Pete’s sake.
The Eye of the Beholder 0
Reacting to the recent police shootings of innocent black persons simply for being, Leonard Pitts, Jr., asks a question:
Follow the link for the rest of his thoughts.
In related news, Tony Norman wonders what’s going on in Texas, anyway.
Coddled Yeggs: A Parable for Our Times 0
They raise their firearms, carefully taking aim; they caress the triggers lovingly and let fly the cartridges.
They strike their targets, who drop lifelessly.
“Oh, no,” they cry, “I did not intend to do that regardless of how it might have looked. It was an accident.”
“That’s okay,” replies Mr. Enforcer. “As you are a member of the Fraternity of the Fair-Skinned, I must take you at your word.
“Oh, and before you go, have a cookie.”
Dragnet 0
Solomon Jones recounts tales of being while black.
The Watchers 0
The IoT is spreading its voyeuristic web. Now it’s doorbell cameras being made available to law enforcement.
From the story (emphasis added):
Ring users can decline video access requests by police officers.
I am certain that there’s no way this guarantee can be circumvented. After all, we never hear news stories about outfits getting hacked, do we?