So how clear can I make the argument that police are out of control? This video is unarguable.


http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/student-beaten-cops-fights-back-10369656



Nuff said.

conhed

God bless

Well, I have been quiet on the presidential race until now. I don't have much to say except to state that I find Sarah Palin to be a breath of fresh air in a fetid political cesspool.

John McCain is, well, boring, passe even. Pass the salt, please, this man is bland.

Palin is Emeril's Essence for the Republican ticket. Dynamic and aggressive, she stands firmly on her beliefs and dares the lamescream media to give her a target to shoot.

I believe she has good aim. Time will tell, but I doubt that her appeal will be found wanting. I wish she was my mother. Or my wife. I admire her.

Is it possible to have her and McCain swap positions?

Wouldn't that put Hillary into spasms?


OK, enough politics. Jon Burge, Chicago's very own Torquemada, has been indicted on perjury charges. Couldn't have happened to a more apt target. Should not have taken so long, though. Too bad we couldn't have Daley indicted as a co-conspirator.

I'm not going to do a bad cop of the period this time. I don't have the time to sift through all the candidates. For a list, just do a Google search on police brutality, or look to the left of this blog for stories under my "what I am reading" area.

Unabashed plug section: Go read eric's stuff at blacktygrrrr:

http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/

He is worth the read!

Stay healthy by avoiding badges!

conhed

There have been a lot of cases of people dying after being tased repeatedly. The rationale for these tasings is "compliance." This is remarkable because the taser is intended to assure that a person have no voluntary movement for a short period of time. How can this be a "compliance" tool if the person being tased is rendered incapable of compliance? The really ironic thing is that the repetition of the tasing is based on the idea that it will force compliance.

First, you tie rocks to their feet, then you shoot them because they don't float. Absolutely bizarre. And irrational.

But the police know everything, and the rest of us are ignorant rubes, at least that is what they want you to believe.

Tasers are not compliance tools. They are torture devices, intended solely to render someone helpless. Once helpless, compliance is not a choice. Repeating their use on a subject simply makes no sense. Either it has the desired effect, or it doesn't. If not, the level of force used is inappropriate. It's that simple.

Poor guy:

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=104&sid=1438019

He was serving a court ordered public service sentence, and got arrested for it. The cop "was sure" he smelled marijuana on the cookies. The guy winds up in jail. The cookies are tested for drugs and the results are negative. Charges are dropped.

Cops are absolutely out of control here. No one reported being sick from the cookies, and it was cops that ate them. Never mind that, let's arrest this guy based on our noses. The chief says that the procedures were followed. Whoever wrote these procedures is a moron. This insane rush to give cops every benefit of the doubt will come to no good. No way.

A cop administering a field drug test is just as competent at that as he is at rocket fuel science. He is not a chemist, and his opinion has the same worth in both fields. None.

To put it bluntly, LSD and marijuana share NO chemical similarities. They "smelled" pot and the field test "detected" LSD. Seems like any rational person would question every bit of "judgment" these officers exercised. At the very least, the chief ought to be wondering if these officers need some more training.

But it's all OK now. The charges are dropped and all the young man has to face is his probation officer for being arrested again. Never mind that the arrest was totally baseless. He will probably get life for breaking probation. That is how these badges and judges work.

Let us hope that his family has the means to pursue a civil case, if for nothing else, for the sheer stupidity of the cops.

This is so laughably preposterous as to reek of criminal cop stupidity. I am talking about the POLICIES that led to this silliness. This is our tax money at work.

More police insanity, this time it's corrected.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,367014,00.html

Fox News reports that a woman has been awarded $7 million for a false arrest after SAVING A COP's LIFE!

No wonder cops get no respect. I will, for damn sure, think twice about helping a cop in trouble. This lady spent 7 months in jail on a charge of stealing the cops weapon after pulling him from a crashed cruiser. This is her reward by other cops for saving his life?

I say it again: Cops have to step up and fix these problems that they created. I sure ain't gonna trust any of them until I see cops reporting and testifying about the corrupt officers.

Stop using tasers as compliance tools. They are meant to stop an attacker, not to force people in wheelchairs to comply with orders.

Use common sense. Stop shooting deaf people and people with cell phones because they didn't comply with conflicting orders. I have seen video where one cop was yelling freeze, the other was screaming to get down. How can you comply? Move and get shot, or don't move and get shot. Great choice. Both are lawful orders, but following either violates the other. And the cops can justify a shooting, because you didn't both freeze and move. Talk about earning the respect of the citizens!

And I am sick and damn tired of this cop mentality that we ordinary citizens can't POSSIBLY understand the job. Try us! We are not as stupid as you keep telling us we are. And it pisses me off bigtime for you to infer that there is some great mystery to the job. There isn't. There is just ego and power that needs to be hidden for fear that you will be exposed as the coward you really are. Man up. Admit it when you make a mistake. When is the last time a cop said, "We made a mistake and we are sorry"?

Just get real.

Politics and elections, bah, humbug!

LOL, Bush bashing and liberal lashing, it's all the same to me.

The "moral majority" component of the right scares the hell out of me, and the socialist loony left is worse.

The biggest problem facing the USA is the erosion of our personal rights under the Constitution. This has been a process that has been in full progress for more than 40 years under the aegis of both major political parties here. It started, though, with the dual edged sword of bad laws and their (intended!) results being used as a reason for even more bad laws, and the move away from the gold standard of money.

Many like to say that all the conflict in the Middle East is a result of oil. It is not. It is the result of 3 major religions with common roots. The conflict there has existed much longer than has any dependence on oil. Oil is merely a rationalization for the violence. It is a smokescreen for other, more sinister, agendas.

Much of the inner city violence in the USA is blamed on drugs. This is incorrect, it is a result of bad laws about drugs, and this is demonstrated by the lessons learned (or that should have been learned) from prohibition.

No, I do not defend Bush, he has had some real problems in leadership. I do not defend the crooks named Clinton either. The USA has not been wise in it's choice of leadership, and this is a direct result of the federalization of schools. We have raised 3 generations of educated puppets, unable or unwilling to understand that freedom and security are the same thing. An armed society is a polite society.

While I do not subscribe to any monstrous conspiracy theories, I will say that there are those who hold great power who are NOT in any government. These people control the money, or more precisely, the flow of value.

There is an old saying that to find the reason, follow the money. Interestingly, the research shows that there is a curious linkage between terrorism, oil, drugs, major religions and governments. Not just the USA government, nearly all of them.

In the USA we had the curious spectacle of the CIA importing drugs to fund (counter-) terrorism in South America while the DEA was trying to stop them. Insanity! The urban myth that drugs are the government's way of destroying minorities has some support in fact. Consider this an example of what goes on globally, mostly undetected and certainly never reported in the news.

If the USA really considered oil as the only issue in the middle east, there is no reason why we could not seize it. We have the power to do so, and as long as the rest of the world gets theirs, they would not care who sold it to them. They do not now. The reason we do not is simple, we still see ourselves as the good guys, no matter how clearly our democrat and republican leaders have demonstrated otherwise to the rest of the world. The ignorant masses still wield some power in the USA, but this is quickly being destroyed. The wars on poverty, drugs and terrorism have achieved their goals. The populace will soon be powerless against the police state and the military, Posse Comitatus be damned. When that populace is disarmed, the Middle East may well be doomed.

The UN has stated outright it's desire for a world government where the control of wealth is in the hands of those who did not create it, and those who did create wealth are curiously silent. Perhaps they know that their puppets are well controlled. How better to protect one's wealth than to control a world government?

This myopia on the part of the citizens of the USA (and the rest of the world) is the result of the desire of those who hold the real power to remain anonymous to most people. One must understand that not all of these powerful people are individually rich, they can be cartels and other types of organizations, even criminal conspiracies. Power obeys only natural law, not the laws of man. Crime does pay, if you can write the laws. (I mean that statement in every sense you can think of!)

This is a world of many conflicting egos, whose loyalties and alliances shift to the highest bidder at a moments notice, and the currency is human misery and despair.

So, please spare me the drama that is politics, for that is just the face of the beast. The real enemy is ignorance and laziness, laziness of mind and willful, blessed ignorance.

Pass me a beer and put on the Braves game. Thanks.

Talking to God

“You do know that the reason that there is pain in the world is because there must be a contrast to pleasure, don’t you?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“And the reason for illness is to give the healthy a reason to rejoice?”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Why do you think I made it so that there are people who corrupt my teachings?”

“I would guess that you did so in order for the pure of heart to see that there must be balance in all things, Lord. That man has free will enough to choose between your will and his own, but that even he who corrupts your teachings can seek your solace when he sees the error of his way.”

“Why do you think there are so many religions, and so much hatred between them?”

“Lord, you spoke of faith and redemption. And you said that you had arranged it so that man could see the path if he would only but look. Those who saw the path spoke of it to others and in imperfect language, so that the ideas were corrupted, and imperfect humans seized upon these imperfect ideas as the perfection of your will. Thus they led those with no vision on paths to destruction. They call these paths religions. Lord, I have a question.”

“Yes, my son?”

“Why did you create man in such a way that all this is necessary?”

“I wanted to invent curiosity.”

Another victim of the police.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdVqSoTgJc
http://mvn.com/nfl-vikings/

Another good man shot down by police. This one was a corrections officer. And the uncle of an NFL player. It could have been your uncle or dad. Otis is right. Watch the video and think about your loved ones. No one is safe, not even a sworn officer.

How many more must die needlessly?

Fresh Water?

Would you like a drink of fresh water? OK, let's go get some. Hey! Wait a minute, where is it made?

Water isn't manufactured, at least not in any major quantity. It is recycled. The water in your Perrier may have once exited Julius Caeser's bladder, or at least a molecule of it may have.

The point is that chemistry does not create things, it merely rearranges atoms and molecules. Physics can and does create and destroy matter, but again, not in any really significant quantities.

Man has the ability to create matter, but almost all of his ability to create is limited to intangible ideas. Properly speaking, man rearranges matter, he does not create or destroy it to any significant extent.

Physics shows us that matter and energy are the same thing.

When I hear of carbon footprints, global warming and other pseudo-scientific nonsense, my first thought is always "Who made this glass of water?"

Man does not pollute the environment, he merely moves or rearranges the elements and molecules that already exist. Every bit of trash and garbage that we generate is a treasure trove of molecular soup that should be used as a source for the atoms and molecules that we need for making useful things.

Only when we learn that recycling is the way of nature will we begin to understand that "pollution" is self controlling. Our failure to control it will lead to our failure to exist. But Mother Nature will then rearrange the stuff that is left to her own ends. This is as it should be, and nothing man can do will change Mother Nature.

It is the height of arrogance for man to assume that he is capable of harming nature, for it is nature that has all the power. We should harness that power to our own benefit, instead of trying to wrest it away for our own. We couldn't control such power anyway.

The global warming scam that only 30 years ago was global cooling is the perfect example of man trying to steal the power of nature, and as all such efforts do, it will fail. Nature abhors not only a vacuum, but a vacuum of knowledge. The warming and cooling cycles of Earth have been around much longer than has man.

As a matter of fact, man's entire recorded history has been within a single cycle of climate change. Don't take my word for it, do the research! Or shut up. I am tired of your shrill ignorance and silly fads.

After all, some of you really believe that some guy named Gore invented the internet, too.

More Abuse of Authority, Sexually!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351618,00.html

A sheriff faces 450+ years in jail for forcing female inmates to perform sexually.

This was the top LE person in that department. How in the Hell can you believe that that group of officers that he oversaw is NOT totally corrupt?

What will it take to get people to wake up and see the truth? Are we going to have to go all the way to fascism before the general public understands why the abuse of power is not the exception, but the rule. It is ingrained by the laws.

Oh, never mind.

More AoA (Abuse of Authority)

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=5752183&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1


Here we go again. The Thugs in Blue have managed yet again to prove that they are only criminals with badges and guns. A quadriplegic man is dumped out of his wheelchair by a female deputy, while SUPERVISORS watch. No report is filed, and the stupidvisors take no action to correct this abuse of power.

These are your employees, you pay their salaries, and you are responsible when they break the law. You gave them the badges, the guns, and the training that stripped them of any humanity. You are responsible.

Are you satisfied with them? Do you sleep well at night, knowing that mothers, fathers, son, daughters and siblings can be degraded, molested, maimed, and murdered by legal criminals in your employ?

For the love of God, people, wake up. Or else, one day soon, you will wake up a victim of legal crime, committed by those whose salaries you pay. There will be no video, no photos, no witnesses on your side, just your word against theirs, and everyone knows that cops are the good guys, right?

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Crime victim arrested, stripped, and degraded. Police are your friends, too.

Yep, I have been away. From keyboard? No. Just taking a break from caring. Nobody else seems to, why should I?

There are so many videos and stories on the abuse of the power of the state that I find it hard to continue. It is so very frustrating to see such animalistic behavior on the part of people who are supposed to help.

I was completely dumbfounded to see a video where a woman who was a victim of an assault was arrested, taken to jail, stripped naked by men and women officers, and left naked in a cell for six hours, then given a weighted VEST to wear to booking. All because she mistakenly provided her dead sister's ID instead of her own. If I were a victim of assault, I am not sure I could find my own ID, either.

These "officers" acted in a way that proves the point that law enforcement is nothing but a tool to be used as a way of subjugating the citizens. There was NOTHING HUMANE here. It was sickening to see male officers holding this defenseless, harmless VICTIM down while she was stripped of her clothing, her dignity, and most assuredly, of her respect for the law. The only civilized response to this barbaric treatment is to excise the cancer that is growing behind the badges and guns that protect the animals while allowing innocent people to be humiliated and degraded.

But you don't care do you? She wasn't your wife, sister, mother or daughter, was she? This could never happen to you could it?

My take is that the urban gangs have it right. Do not trust the man. He is not your friend. He has no sympathy for you or your loved ones.

I am not going to offer advice to you on how to deal with police. My advice is to avoid them at ALL costs, even if you must become a criminal to do so.

They do not care if you are a victim or a witness. Every single person they come in contact with is viewed with suspicion and as a threat. Just watch COPS on TV. Everyone is a threat to them. And they have NO mercy.

Grandmother in wheelchair tasered. Pregnant woman thrown to ground. Tiny female bartender assaulted by a cop for OBEYING the law. Five year old child arrested for sexual harassment! Millions and millions of dollars paid as a result of civil rights lawsuits against police officers. Suspects beaten, tortured, raped and murdered. And there are new and worse stories every day.

Yep, the smartest thing you can do is dial 911. If you are a masochist, that is.

Better yet, write your elected officials. Tell them it must stop. NOW. Or they will be replaced by people who can and will address the problem. Don't accept excuses or evasions, Demand answers and solutions. Carry a camera and photograph officers as they do their jobs. Make them honest and accountable.

Or just be a sheep among the wolfpack. It is your choice and your wife, mother, sister or daughter that will be next if you choose wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1yUsYIk2EM&eurl=http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=9599

Just watch the video, dammit.

A bit of promotion for a new friend

I have added a new favorite to my link list. The list is short because I am picky, not for lack of candidates.

blacktygrrrr is well spoken and forthcoming. He presents his views well and his arguments are cogent. I recommend him both as a source for political insight as well as for the quality of his writing.

The best part is that he linked to me here. That is an excellent reason to recommend him.

Thanks, Eric

conhed

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Response to a Euroweenie

Read this: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=41994

Here is my response:


Mr. Lockyer,

You said (and these are direct quotes!):


"The Germans occupying Paris could have and maybe DID justify their
evils as not contravening Geneva Accord when they tortured and
annihilated Jews and gays and gypsies not wearing the Swastika? Do you
not see where Boortz and Hannity take you and your great nation with
this philosophy?"


"How can free speech America not denounce and remove such a denigration
biased radio program?"


It seems to me you are doing exactly what you are complaining about. I
mean, comparing Boortz to Nazis as you do. That's OK, though, even if I
disagree with you about Neal Boortz, et al, you certainly do have the
right to express your opinion, however poorly. And I have the right to
point out your pitiful failure at the attempt.

First, you compare Boortz to Nazis. That is denigration. Then you use
some sort of convoluted logic to imply that free speech applies only to
speech which isn't biased in some way. Well, to me, comparing someone
to a Nazi is very biased (it is also an overworked and childish
cliché.) You fail your own test. Miserably.

I must question if English is your native language. Note the lack of a
question mark. I did not ask a question. I stated that I had one. Big
difference. In the first sentence of yours that I quoted, you end the
sentence with a question mark. What is your question there?

If English is your first language, your education in it was sorely
deficient. You often end a declarative statement with a question mark.
I quoted only one example of several. You have an odd way of leaving
out necessary punctuation, or perhaps misplacing it, as you also
include improper or unnecessary punctuation. I suspect that you do use
a modern word processor that automatically corrects your spelling

All in all, I could not discern from your November 5 screed exactly
what your point is. There is a brief guide to improving your writing on
my blog. It isn't very hard to find given normal intelligence and the
use of a modern Internet search engine. I am sure there are other, even
better, writing guides as well, elsewhere.

I do know that as soon as I hear someone (like you!) compare someone
else to the Nazis, that person (you, again!) automatically assumes a
state I call emotional chaff. That is, they are spewing illogical
garbage, useless, and bound for the special waste bin that is reserved
for irrational arguments that appeal only to emotion and cannot bear
scrutiny by a rational person. The use of the tactic of personal attack
is a sure sign that the speaker is incapable of forming a lucid
argument, and thus, must resort to such ad hominem attacks. Otherwise,
you would have nothing to say. You do not even come close to proving
this generalization wrong.

I still don't know what point you were trying (and failing so
miserably) to make with this holier-than-thou screed.

Is it that socialized health care is better than our capitalist
system? I will debate you this idea: I do not trust a Doctor that is
not allowed to set his own fee. You will lose such a debate, too.
(You will not even be capable of sticking to the issue. I know your
kind well.) I am very knowledgeable on this subject and plenty of
research exists to support me. Do you want to try? Are you so sure of
your position in support of socialized medicine? Do you remember
Britain's brain drain? Do you remember why it happened?

Is it that you want to prove your ignorance of the essence of free
speech by maligning the first amendment rights of others while using
those rights yourself? This is a common theme among those who wrongly
consider themselves intellectuals, and those, like you, from almighty
Europe, the folks we had to save in two different world wars who now
thumb their noses at us ugly Americans. When are you going to pay back
the debts you still owe us from the rebuilding of your nations twice;
the missiles that shielded you from aggression for decades that were
paid for by the American taxpayers; our liberty ships, our soldiers and
our weapons? Without us, the whole of Europe, including Britain, would
now be speaking German. And you damn well know it. We may have been
too generous in our zeal to spread freedom, a lesson we have probably
learned. Next time, maybe we'll let you lose. How does that strike
you? You sure as hell aren't thankful now for our sacrifices then.
Remember, we fought against the Nazis. You commit an atrocious,
vicious crime when you accuse us of being what we hate. Please leave
the USA now. We despise you and your sniveling, sanctimonious creed of
moral bankruptcy.

Is it that torture should never be used against anyone, even to save
innocent life? Are you saying that we should allow a helpless child to
die in order to protect the rights of a serial child killer? I think
any sane person would condone torture of a criminal sexual deviant to
save the life of an innocent little girl. I would certainly condone
torture if it could prevent the deaths of thousands. One worthless
life vs many productive ones is a pretty simple equation. Remember
that these sociopaths chose their course, and put themselves into the
situation. We aren't doing it because we enjoy it. We do it because
it is the only sane thing that can be done. Frankly, if there is someone
that enjoys inflicting pain and can do so without suffering further
psychological damage, I will hand them the tools.

Or, is it that you don't know what your point is and are just
regurgitating the garbage that you read yesterday in some third world
propaganda sheet? I too, read them, mostly because I need some humor
in my life. That's how I know whence this garbage originates. But I
don't repeat stupidity and label it knowledge.

Please try to improve your writing skills. And, please refrain from
comparing everyone with whom you disagree to Nazis. The first will make
you understandable. The second may mask your ignorance and
intellectual immaturity, or at least, camouflage it.

Pick one single point and stay with it. You aren't capable of more.
Twisting the issues of health care, terrorism, the UN and its corrupt
(oops, I meant charitable) UNICEF, talk radio, the first amendment, and
torture into a single, confused and confusing, rant shows only that an
undisciplined mind is capable of being heard, it does not show that
it's inane ramblings are worth hearing.

I hope you drive better than you write, since we both live in Florida.

(signed)

conhed

***************

Here is his oh so predictable reply:



Dave


PatrickLockyer@aol.com wrote:
> > In a message dated 11/5/2007 12:49:21 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> > xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> >
> > You said (and these are direct quotes!):
> >
> > total brain snob....barf....
> >
> >
> >

******************
And here is mine:

Another ad hominem argument. I expected no less.

However, I will interpret it my way. Yes, I am smart. And arrogant.
Thank you for the compliments. I'm pleased that you noticed. I hadn't
expected that.

It is so sad that you ate something that disagreed so violently with
you. You have my sympathy. I bet you didn't expect that!

Respectfully.

(signed)

conhed

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On taking my own advice to heart

Well, if you have read this blog, you know what my buttons are: corruption in public officials, people who can't write coherently, and in general, stupidity. I believe that stupidity is a choice that people make when they choose mental laziness over lifelong learning. It's OK to be ignorant, that can be changed, but stupidity is a self-fulfilling self-limitation.

I wrote some advice earlier for those who would post comments on blogs or news articles. Basically I plead for three things: coherence, creativity and cordiality. Of course there will always be those who are incapable of any original thought, and who believe that screaming the same inanities repeatedly somehow makes them a pundit. Sigh.

So, to make my bones, so to speak, I have entered a contest where one is a winner by the simple accomplishment of writing a novel in one month. Quality is not considered a factor. Wordcount is the only criterion. The name of this whacky contest is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month at http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I am doing this in order to prove to myself that I have what it takes, but am prepared to finish my novel even if I can't win. By the way, everyone who finishes fifty thousand words in a month is a winner, so, the competition is with one's self, not with other entrants. This is a wonderful opportunity for any budding author to socialize and share the agony of creation with others who have no reason to sabotage one's efforts. In fact, there are a number of forums devoted to sharing the experience with fellow contestants.

I challenge you to try also, if it is too late this year, try next year, but try. My nic on nanowrimo is conhed. I'll be your buddy there if you ask.

Happy Musing!

conhed

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Why do we have the FBI investigating Corruption in Palm Beach County?

The FBI has increased the number of agents involved in corruption investigations in Palm Beach Co. by 6 people. Why is this necessary? Is corruption so rampant that an entire FBI office is overwhelmed? They took the agents out of the Miami office, does this mean that there isn't as much graft in Miami/Dade Co?

The investigations are focusing on land deals. How novel! I bet even Herman Talmadge of Georgia, a well respected honest politician never foresaw that development. (An honest politician is one who, once bought, remains bought.) Hummin (gotta love that south Georgia accent) never met someone that couldn't pay or be bought. The money would go into one coat pocket and come out another. If you had extra, Hummin knew what to do with it. If you were short, he had something for you. He was well loved and respected throughout the state. The Talmadge family made millions on land deals by shrewd manipulation of interstate routing and land "speculation." Much of the family's speculative investments are now extremely valuable properties at interchanges throughout Georgia. This was no coincidence, for those of you who can't read between the lines here. In some cases, the interstate highways were rerouted by miles to make sure that certain holdings were of value. This story is well known and accepted to longtime Georgia residents. There were never any corruption probes. I guess it was because Hummin wasn't so selfish as to forget those who he owed.

But these selfish politicians in Palm Beach County apparently didn't learn that lesson, for they ARE being investigated. Here's hoping that the probe goes so deep as to embarrass the entire power structure of this pathetic fiefdom. Citizens of Palm Beach County have been taken by professional con men under cover of authority and guise of public service.

I've said it before and it bears repetition ad nauseum: The citizens that vote without doing their homework always vote themselves into trouble sooner or later. This can be seen at every level of government and in every branch of government. Just open your eyes. The citizens pay when public safety departments are successfully sued for brutality, when rogue prosecutors put votes before justice, when emergency dispatchers mishandle calls, when trust in government is found to be misplaced in any way. The Feds will come in and break up the party, and your federal taxes do battle with your county taxes in courts that are paid for by your state taxes.

And the taxpayers either don't understand that or they don't care. Fools.

conhed

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I guess I may as well make this a blog about corruption and misconduct

I mean, there's just so much of it to write about. Just in south Florida, there's more than enough.

Nearly every day there is news of another official or policeman caught in wrongdoing. Since the common wisdom is that most crime is unreported and most misconduct is undetected, there must be a tidal wave of corruption in public office and in law enforcement.

People I know talk about their experiences with badged bullies, newspapers report about sheriffs and policemen convicted of felonies. Children die in state custody, and the existence of legal child abuse by the juvenile justice system is exposed, highlighted, then ignored by the courts. Students are tortured by campus police with tasers and politicians are beaten by cops acting under the direction of rival politicians.

Good cops won't talk about bad cops because they fear reprisals and being hung out to dry. Citizens wonder about who to trust when even cops don't trust the cops. Cops shoot each other and get off scot-free. Cops shoot citizens and get off scot-free. Cops shoot themselves and get medals (just kidding!) for valor.

The cops are being taught that anyone questioning their authority is a threat that must be dealt with. When cops do something stupid in public, all they have to do to cover up is arrest someone on obstruction charges. Never mind that there was no investigation to be obstructing. If you flip the finger at a cop who almost ran over you, you spend the night in jail after he assaults you and your wife and he isn't even counseled for reckless driving. If you drove like that, the same cop would write tickets like he was paid by the word.

If you are caught filming cops in a public setting while they are doing something questionable, they assault you and destroy your property.

The cops tell the citizens that it's a very difficult job and there's no way someone who isn't a cop will ever understand. Then they hire a twenty year old, who can't even legally enter a liquor store, give him a badge and a gun and within a few months he's a mass murderer of children. Damn, I thought this was a hard job, how is a kid supposed to do it? How is a twenty year old, who is legally not old enough to drink, able to BE a cop, while, I, in my fifties and pretty smart, am supposedly totally unable to understand what it means to be a cop?

I'm reasonable. I understand that sometimes things happen in an instant and life or death decisions have to be made without time to think. Sometimes a cell phone looks like a gun, I guess. I am willing to listen to both sides and see the evidence. I'll give the cop the benefit of the doubt, if he doesn't have a history of poor judgment, when there's no evidence of intent or negligence.

But there are episodes, some caught on tape, that clearly show policemen out of control, exceeding their authority, brutalizing and intimidating normal people who have done little or nothing wrong. Almost everyone I know has had contact with an officer whose professionalism was not up to standards. I know of a young man, highly educated (2 Master's degrees) who was arrested on charges of assault for tapping an officer on the shoulder to point out a crime in progress. The actual criminal got away with a purse snatching. Clean away. It seems the cop didn't really want the help of a citizen. That's only when they are stuck and need information from the public. Just don't try to get their attention by touching them.

Then there are the Rambos who shoot at harmless snakes and kill children. Nothing but ignorant negligence. Yes, they will stand trial. But aren't they supposed to have good training and judgment? Why should a child be dead and cops on trial for it? Because the cops are out of control with being in control. The mentality that is taught in law enforcement training is lacking common sense and responsibility.

In the post 9-11 frenzy, we lost more of our freedoms. Innocent people have died as a result of policemen fearing everything everyone does.

A schoolgirl was assaulted by a school policeman for the terrible crime of dropping food on the floor, with broken bones as her punishment. The assailant also used a racial slur. If I did the same thing I would be prosecuted for a hate crime. Instead the mother of the victim was also arrested after properly raising hell. She will need a good lawyer to get any justice. Her job is at stake.

We need to clone Johnny Cochran. There aren't enough good lawyers to go around. We also need people to speak up and make it clear that we don't forgive cops because they are above the law. We hold them to the highest standards of conduct according to the law. Recklessness, brutality, and criminal behavior cannot and will not be tolerated. The good cops, and I am sure there are plenty of them, need to be able to blow the whistle on the bad ones without fear of retribution. And when it is necessary, we have to file charges, try, convict and sentence the bad ones to the life behind bars that they deserve. There is no other way to get the message across that the police are the employees, and are accountable to their employers, the taxpayers.

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RIP: Martin Lee Anderson

Here is a comment I posted to the Miami Herald after the 7 counselors and a nurse were found not guilty of any charges in the death of a child in their care:

***** Begin *****

I cannot believe that behavior that would (and recently HAS) put a parent in jail was ever legal if done by a state employee to an incarcerated child, that is, a child that cannot legally resist or run away to avoid it. I really don't care whether the "counselors" caused the death. This was child abuse if ever I saw it. I can maybe excuse brutality toward an adult in prison under certain circumstances, but there is no way anyone can ever convince me that institutionalized and proceduralized brutality against a child is either moral or legal.

We call them children because they have not matured. Juvenile justice is separate from adult justice because we don't want to reinforce criminal behavior in children by exposing them to hardened adult criminals who would carelessly brutalize and dominate them.

So we expose them to brutal, domineering, uncaring "counselors" instead? God, that is pathetic.

It is insane to believe that legalizing assault and battery on a child is in any way going to have a positive effect on that child. If those "counselors" believed they were helping those kids, then I have to conclude that the counselors are nothing but savages, whose actions were orchestrated and condoned by a sadistic control freak called DJJ.

I understand that the verdict was correct under the law, this makes the point that the law was insufficient or the charges were not the correct ones, not that those defendants did nothing wrong.

I do hope that everyone responsible for this tragedy and all those who supported the bootcamp idea can sleep at night, knowing that there was NO love shown to Martin Anderson in the last hours of consciousness of his too short life, not even tough love.

Just think, the last words he heard were in the nature of demands for more from his broken body. No one told him it was OK to rest now.

***** End *****

It is absolutely inconceivable to me that these people were so convinced that Anderson was malingering that they failed to recognize clear warning signals of medical distress and continued their abuse well past any point where it was warranted under any rational standard.

I regard this as yet another example of the culture of "Protect and Serve" becoming the culture of "Endanger and Dominate." This belief that officials can do no wrong is myopic and counter-productive. Some day it will be everyone's children that are routinely subjected to institutionalized abuse every day for the purpose of ensuring the continuation of the power of the government over the people.

Folks, our Constitution clearly says that we, the people, are the source of the power that our government wields on our behalf. When that power is misused and abused by the government, we, the people, are ultimately responsible. Every police brutality case, every needless death of an innocent is the direct result of our failure to exercise our personal responsibility to monitor and control our government.

Martin Anderson was a troubled child, no doubt. His parents are not going to win any awards, either. But, if being human and making mistakes is a death penalty crime, then we should all be in a boot camp, being treated abusively as he was, just waiting for the moment that we are pushed past our level of tolerance, to be further abused until death releases us from the torture.

In short, Martin Anderson was murdered by we, the people, by our malingering at the polls and our absorption with meaningless diversions. We are guilty of letting sadists and monsters beguile us with fairy tales of "success" where there exists only failure and guilt. Ours.

The sweet siren song that is indifference can easily be couched in the religious belief that evil manifests a physical existence here on earth. If you hear that call, tread carefully, for it could be your life that is next in jeopardy.

Corrosion of Conformity song 'White Noise':

When They Cracked The Whip, Nothing Was Said

When The Flames Burned, Nothing Was Said

When They Notched The Barrels, Nothing Was Said

When The Bays Opened, Nothing Was Said

When The Dogs Were Set Loose, Nothing Was Said

When The Colors Run Red, Nothing Was Said

When Innocents Cried In The Face Of The Guilty

No One Said Anything

This was likely influenced by Pastor Martin Niemöller, who wrote:

Original

Translation

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist. Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat. Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich nicht protestiert; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter. Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude. Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

The above quotes are from wikipedia: First they came...

conhed

I am shocked! Cop goes postal, kills 6 young people.

20 year old deputy kills 6 in jealous rage


Just damn. I would never have believed it. Someone saw fit to pin a badge on a 20 year old and issue him a weapon. He couldn't even purchase alcohol legally, at least not in my state, but is mature enough to make life or death decisions in a chaotic situation with no personal involvement?

Certainly he would never let his feelings interfere with his professionalism.

Not only did he do that, but he was not even required to undergo any kind of psychological testing prior to being sworn. Whoever hired him must be proud of their prowess at judging character. They surely placed their judgment above any kind of concern for the six young people in the morgue now that the young officer has used a gun to express his romantic frustrations. At least it wasn't (as far as I can tell) his official police weapon that killed those young victims.

There used to be a TV show called Doogie Howser, about a genius, who at a young age had completed med school and was a practicing doctor. The show never explained the lack of internship versus the young man's age. No need, since it was only fiction, and no real lives were at stake. I wouldn't have placed my critical care needs in his young hands without adult supervision, though. It takes time to gain wisdom.

The same thing applies here. I don't give a rotten rhyme scheme if the young officer had passed training. Training is not real life experience and will never substitute for the wisdom that comes from years of life.

I guess that, in hindsight, everyone will agree that he was too young.

But is that his fault? No.

The people that failed were the ones that hired and equipped him. And the apologists that want to tell us how hard a cop's job is. If the job is so damn hard, why let a kid do it? Or, how hard can it be if a kid can do it?

Doesn't anyone else see that this irresponsibility and resistance to accountability in the Law Enforcement community is systemic and ingrained? They are too much "in charge" to see how foolish their procedures and policies are in the face of people's lives. And they don't care. They will tell you that you don't know anything about it. Don't believe them. You know enough to see the truth. There's no "magic" in policing. Right and wrong aren't mystical concepts.

Every time something like this happens, there is someone who says that he/she couldn't see it coming. That's a cop-out (pun seriously intended) for people who don't want to accept responsibility for poor judgment. This time it's the city attorney, Lindsay Erickson. I bet she doesn't hire a six year old to mow her lawn, but if she did, and the six year old fell under the mower, would she say that she thought the child was mature enough to operate dangerous machinery? Or that she couldn't have foreseen the danger? She apparently thinks the ability to write "good reports" and be "true to his job" are adequate standards for an officer. Ms. Erickson, would you explain what the town's liability for this officer's actions might be if you allowed that he might have been too young? You are transparent, and your CYA attitude is just plain immoral.

Now understand, I'm not saying that Peterson did this under color of authority. I'm not even saying that it wouldn't have happened if he weren't a sheriff's deputy. I am saying that he should not have been a deputy. And that those who made the decisions that allowed him to become one made serious errors in judgment. I don't even want a twenty year old deputy who has passed psychological testing. Twenty years old is too young. Period.

I hope that those who made such awful decisions do NOT sleep well at night, for a LONG time. Maybe, just maybe, this will be a wake up call to the politicians and voters that changes are necessary.

My guess, though, is that they will continue in their jobs, accountability and common sense be damned. They will continue to make decisions based on bad judgment, and more people will die or be hurt as a result. And, ultimately, the voters will be held responsible. Ask the citizens of Durham, North Caroline.

I am really tired of all the death and inhumanity that is the result of the culture of "protect and serve." It's time to call it "endanger and dominate." That's closer to the reality of our police state. And it's just what the voters deserve.

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More on writing, and getting read

More uninvited advice:

Learn something about the art and science of writing. Many good writers use a device of their own invention. A device is a kind of trademark style or the use of irony, sarcasm, wit, comedy or even a peculiar insight, often several of these combined, in a unique way. If you aren't terribly creative, it's OK to emulate an author whose work you respect, but be careful, plagiarism can get you into trouble. Use the style, not the substance.

Try to use words that are comfortable in speech. Since most people read at a 10th grade level or less, the use of argot or jargon will frequently leave the reader as clueless at the end as at the beginning. You are writing to make a point , aren't you? If you muddy the water, don't be surprised if no one drinks it.

It's OK to use precise words when precision is important, but avoid the trap of pedantry. No one is impressed with bombastic prose when single syllables will serve.

Learn the difference between active and passive voice and use them appropriately.

Try to anticipate "loaded" words and their effects. Also be aware that assumptions lead to ambiguity.


One really important thing to learn if you want to write well is how to read. Seriously! Get a newspaper and proofread a longer article for grammar and word usage. Then read it again and pick out the facts. Read it again and pick out the writer's opinions. Look at the structure of the article and then at the structure of each paragraph. Use different colored highlighter pens to mark the article up at each step.

Count how many words of more than three syllables the author uses.

Create an outline of the article and note facts and assertions.

Take the lessons learned from each article you analyze and apply them to your own writing. You will likely be surprised at the mistakes made by someone who is paid to write for a living, and being aware of their mistakes will help you avoid making the same ones.


Then take the new knowledge and write the article yourself, using the same facts, but draw your own conclusions. Try to emulate the author's style and structure, but make the article a product of your own perspective. Keep the reading level to the same (number of polysyllabic words) audience.

Now, just for fun, write the same article just as you would expect to see it written for a college professor of English. Use big words. Be pedantic.

Finally, try to write the same article for a 5th grader. Use easy words. Stay away from metaphor, analogy and irony.


Now compare and contrast the different versions. Be realistic about which you prefer and which is most comfortable to write and which is easiest to read.

No one ever said writing is easy. It requires thought and planning to succeed at informing and persuading your audience. If you practice, you will improve. That will increase your comfort level, making your writing more natural and understandable.

Good writing is just like talking to a friend, the only thing is that most people have a LOT more experience talking than writing.

Cheers,

conhed