Enforcers category archive
Bait and Switch 0
It was billed as the “War on Drugs.” It has turned out to be a war on the poor, on minorities, and, especially, on black folks, because this is the United States of America, home of the Secesh, where, if you dig into any issue, race is always just under the surface.
Jordan Lebeau reports at Boston.com. Here’s a bit of the intro, but you really must read the rest. Nothing I can write can do it justice.
They did not respond when a former cop told me the police in Baltimore are addicted to drugs — not addicted to drugs themselves, but addicted to a drug-enforcement windfall that includes everything from overtime to nicer cars for officers who make big busts.
They chose not to discuss whether their form of law enforcement contributed to the Baltimore riots, which started on April 27 and left hundreds arrested, cars and buildings ablaze, and the frustration between police and the community exposed to the eyes of a nation.
“Officer Ninja” 0
Badtux pretty much sums it up.
It Can’t Happen Here (and Other Myths) 0
A Chilean describes what it was like to live under a regime of massive state spying on its citizens. A snippet:
That toxic atmosphere is one of the reasons Angelica and I no longer live in Chile, despite many efforts to return before and after the restoration of democracy. We could no longer recognize a homeland where the persistence of duplicity and dread stifled trust and creativity.
. . . But there is nothing that compares with the sweeping and unchecked powers of surveillance authorities exercise today.
Just read it.
Inalienable Rights: Life, Liberty, and Property* 0
Well, if you are lucky, life. Maybe.
If you are lucky and Not-Black.
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*Yes, “property.” Read your Locke.
Round Up the Usual Suspects 0
There really is a simple explanation (emphases added).
He never appeared and his real identity is unknown to authorities.
The Sheriff’s Office then contacted a Jacksonville man named Larry Towns Jr. His lawyer says he’s legally blind, and he had lost his state ID. He reported it stolen to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, but the police never found anyone with the ID.
He is a 5-foot-9-inch, 160-pound, black man with no lion tattoo.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest
After all, they all look alike, don’t they?
White on White Violence 0
Chauncey Devega comments on the recent events in Waco and what the media’s reaction to them says about the media and about us.
(Note: this is a rather long clip, about half an hour. If you don’t have time to listen now, bookmark it and listen when you have time. It’s worth your while.)
A Shot and a Beer 0
They were not caught in the act, but they did match the description. Funny how, when stuff like this happens, the suspects always “match the description.”
(snip)
Officers split up to search for the suspects. Donald encountered two men with skateboards who fit witnesses’ descriptions, and moments later, he radioed in that shots had been fired, the police chief said.
In radio calls released by police, Donald calls dispatchers once he spots the men and again to report that he fired shots.
How Stuff Works: The End of Privacy 0
Simon Phipps explains the theft of your privacy. He’s writing specifically about the recent British elections, but it works the same way on this side of the Big Pond. Here’s a bit:
They issue an instruction to block the fields. The objective is unarguably pure and the things that those one or two people are doing are disgusting, so it must be possible, right? If you object to blocking the fields, it only goes to proves that you’re one of those dirty people. Bureaucrats get to work on the demand. They can’t block an open field, so first they build a road across the field. Then they build a police control point in the middle of the road.
Follow the link to find out what happens next.
Driving while Black 0
Honest to Pete, you can’t make this stuff up.
Teflon Blue 0
Thoreau explains how Teflon blue is the Catch-22 of the color pallet.
Have Cake, Eat It Too 0
Organization of persons who habitually rush to judgement alleges “rush to judgement.”
Those Who Forget the Past etc. 0
Werner Herzog’s Bear explains.
Just read it.