2009 archive
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You Won’t See This on “Cops” 0
If I had been beaten and robbed, I might not be holding my teacup with my pinkie out either.
When did cops become Miss Manners?
Camden Detective Maurice Gibson, who alleges that Kimberly Halpin made racial slurs in describing her assailants, decided that she should be handcuffed, arrested, and jailed.
Their he-said, she-said trial landed before U.S. District Judge Renee Bumb this week. And a jury of five women and three men unanimously decided yesterday that the detective fabricated information to justify the June 19, 2004, arrest.
(snip)
Gibson, who is African American and has been a police officer for 16 years, said he tried to take Halpin’s report, but she cried too much, was irate, cursed, and then twice used the “N-word” in describing the two assailants who took her backpack, purse, car keys, money, and cell phone.
So she got slapped with a disorderly conduct charge for crying, being angry, and forgetting her manners.
I’ve known and worked with a lot if cops. Almost all of them were decent persons who, underneath the locker room joking, took their responsibilities seriously.
Some were not.
And some were psychologically brutalized by the job. Those had the emptiest eyes I have ever seen.
None of them had such thin skins as today’s cops seem to have.
Watch the Racism 0
It’s a constant undercurrent in this scene.
No, I’m not accusing the Marx Brothers of racism, and, as they were Jewish, they probably had plenty of other isms to deal with. Though they were children of their time, just as I am a child of my time.
But watch closely. You can see it, a nasty undercurrent, not noticeable when the film was made because it was part of the fabric of society, but all too noticeable now.
It is there, even as Harpo takes the harp to heavenly places, because this film is a child of its time.
And consider as you watch it: This is what the odious Southern Strategy of the Republican Party is all about.
And this is what the whole “birther” thing springs from.
Keeping the darkies in their place. And keeping the white folks scared of the darkies.
Aside: My South Carolina grandmother commonly used the term “darkie.” In her upbringing, it was bad form to remind black folks that they were black.
Twits on Twitter 0
Report from the field on Twitless Thursday:
People were on Facebook saying stuff like “TWITTER IS DOWN! I CAN’T LOOK AT MY COMPUTER! IT BURNS!”
The response was even more pathetic on MySpace: “TWITTER IS DOWN. IS ANYBODY THERE? ANYBODY???”
I read those things (and yes, they were in all caps) and realized the horrible truth. While Twitter is merely a social-networking tool for me, it’s an addiction for others. That’s scary. Because boiling all our social interactions down to 140 characters means we’re no longer talking with each other. We’re talking at each other.
I talked my thoughts at people at Geekazine.
Time Warp, Shrinquirer Style 0
I have cancelled my home delivery subscription to the Inquirer, mainly because I’m gone so much anymore it’s not worth it. And the last time I did a delivery stop, they forgot to start it again (more FAIL).
So this morning I went to the local Wawa to pick up a paper to enjoy over my coffee. If nothing else, I still want the comics and the advice column. Life is not life without comics, despite the best efforts of the Republican Party to render them redundant.
I didn’t look at the paper. I just grabbed it, along with several other things.
And when I got home, I noticed it was kind of fat.
I looked.
It was dated Sunday, August 9, 2009. It had all the Sunday sections and everything. The articles aren’t even up on the website yet.
The Inky is not known for releasing the Sunday paper early.
So where in the time warp did today go?
Old Times 0
Thirty-five years ago, my friends and I left Zebra Pizza (probably long since closed for health code violations) and went up the Washington Monument.
The Park Ranger told us it was the lightest crowd he had ever seen, but, to us, looking down on the White House seemed to be the appropriate way to celebrate the moment.
Parallel Universe 0
Charles M. Blow on the anti-health care mobbery (emphasis added). Please follow the link for the full analysis:
I must say that this says more about them than it does about any forthcoming legislation. Belligerence is the currency of the intellectually bankrupt.
Trapped in their vacuum of ideas, too many Republicans continue to display an astounding ability to believe utter nonsense, even when faced with facts that contradict it.
I got nothin’ against demonstratin’. I’ve done plenty of it in my time. One of my favorite memories is of waving a picket sign in Richard Nixon’s face.
I got a lot against mobbery.
Jamie Sanderson has more.
My Cat Can’t Splet “http://” 1
You can’t make this stuff up:
Florida investigators say a man accused of downloading child pornography is blaming his cat.
Yeah. Right. 1,000 pictures worth.
H/T Linda for the link.
Yesterday’s Dustbiters 0
I got busy over at LQ last night and forgot to check who you can no longer bank on.
- Community First Bank, Prineville, Oregon
Crunch 0
The center lane and left lanes of Commons Blvd. are left turn only lanes. It you go straight, you run into a building.
Insurance Company Rules 0
From TerranceDC, who reminds us
It’s not money that’s “the root of all evil,” as the most common misquoting of particular bit of scripture would suggest. It’s the love of money that’s the “root of all evil.” Money itself is neither bad nor good. Money, or profit, is not the problem. It’s what we do with it, and what we do for it, that makes the difference. If it becomes our only reason for doing anything we are, as a country, lost.
Read his entire post. It’s three minutes of worth it.
Fire in the Hold 0
Frankly, I find her story more plausible than his.
Alternate Realities 0
Noz ruminates on how all the lies about healthcare got so much traction:
I think he has a point. The teabaggers screaming “read the bill” clearly have not.
I gave up on broadcast news a long time ago. Not just cable. All of it. Even the folks who try to do a good job (that is, who try to be accurate) don’t have enough time to be thorough. And it seems that the folks who have the most time (such as three-hour radio shows) have no interest in accuracy.
Full disclosure: There are some more or less sane NPR shows that I listen to via podcast, because they devote and hour to a story and really do dig into it.
Jobs May Be Looking Up 2
Atrios reports that the monthly job losses for July were less than projected.
Wonder whether any banks will bite the dust tonight.