Exclusive: U.S. airlines tell crews not to force passengers to wear masks – Reuters
Jeezus…
Category: American Injustice System,
Punching Isn’t Excessive Force, NYPD Commissioner Says
“A punch is something we actually train for in the police academy,” Shea said at the mayor’s daily press briefing. “A punch should not be assumed to be excessive force.”
Several lawmakers raised questions about NYPD de-escalation training and called for an investigation into the officers involved.
“Proper public safety interaction isn’t about ego. It’s about deescalation,” tweeted Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “This officer’s actions were unacceptable.”
“Regardless of what transpired before the video, what is the justification for the rage?” tweeted City Council Member Carlina Rivera “Where’s the professionalism and de-escalation tactics?”
Punching Isn’t Excessive Force, NYPD Commissioner Says
hmmm
Los Angeles police officer shot by fellow officer on camping trip, authorities say
Three off-duty officers were camping, drinking and shooting at the Stoddard Wells Off-Highway Vehicle Area late Saturday when one of the officers was struck by a single round.
Los Angeles police officer shot by fellow officer on camping trip, authorities say
mmhmmm
San Francisco top cop bans “thin blue line” masks – CBS News
The police union ordered and distributed the masks emblazoned with black-and-white American flag with a blue stripe across the middle. The symbol is associated with the Blue Lives Matter movement, a display of unity among police officers in response to the national Black Lives Matter movement.
…Police union president, Tony Montoya, said the blue line “represents law enforcement’s separation of order and chaos.”
…”The thin blue line is a political symbol,” John Crew said. “And it’s a POA-branded mask. It’s like wearing a political button.”
San Francisco top cop bans “thin blue line” masks – CBS News
Make no mistake citizens, the police union is reinforcing the premise that our police forces’ duty is first and foremost to serve and protect their own, no matter the cost. (Spoiler: It’s not.)
A hospital’s secretive deal for coronavirus masks
It had all the markings of an illicit drug deal in a Hollywood movie: an encounter at a secret warehouse, with a last-minute sampling of the goods to make sure they were the real thing, a wire transfer of more than $1 million, and the sudden appearance of the FBI at the moment of handoff.
But this wasn’t about drugs. It was a deal cut by a Massachusetts hospital system for 250,000 scarce Chinese-made masks so its personnel could treat COVID-19 patients.
…At the warehouse, two empty trailer trucks stood at the ready, disguised as food-service delivery trucks. The idea was for them to take different routes back to Massachusetts to minimize the chance that the whole shipment might be diverted.
…The G-men examined Artenstein’s identification and checked his bona fides on Google. Eventually they allowed the boxes to be loaded on the trucks. But they still refused to let the trucks leave until they verified that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t want to claim the supplies first. (A call to the hospitals’ local Congress member’s office helped fend off any effort by that agency to get in the way.)
…“We were just on the trail of 1.2 million disposable gowns that were exactly what we were looking for,” he says. “It literally dissolved at midnight the other night — we were told it was stuck in Turkey, which may or may not be the case. But that’s as much as we could get in terms of rationale.”
…Other suppliers have explained failed deals by blaming the Department of Veterans Affairs or other states or other institutions or other suppliers for stepping in. “That’s what we’ve been told,” Artenstein says. “It’s possible we’ve been fed a story, but it’s hard to fact-check these things.”
Even when a supplier can be found, the system is paying as much as five times the pre-crisis price — $5 or more for N95 masks, which offer the best filtration against airborne contaminants, and which normally cost as little as 60 or 70 cents each.
…A system that should operate like clockwork has turned into a dog-eat-dog, zero-sum game in which frontline workers and patients are merely pawns. Is this any way to run a 21st century country?
Hiltzik: A hospital’s secretive deal for coronavirus masks – Los Angeles Times
sigh….
Firearm, Other Charges Filed Against Franklin Street Felon
Firearm, Other Charges Filed Against Franklin Street Felon | Concord, NH Patch
Congratulations to the local police for not losing their heads and going in after him.
DOJ Wants to Suspend Constitutional Rights for Coronavirus Emergency
The Trump Department of Justice has asked Congress to craft legislation allowing chief judges to indefinitely hold people without trial and suspend other constitutionally-protected rights during coronavirus and other emergencies, according to a report by Politico’s Betsy Woodruff Swan.
While the asks from the Department of Justice will likely not come to fruition with a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives, they demonstrate how much this White House has a frightening disregard for rights enumerated in the Constitution.
The DOJ has requested Congress allow any chief judge of a district court to pause court proceedings “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation,” according to draft language obtained by Politico. This would be applicable to “any statutes or rules of procedure otherwise affecting pre-arrest, post-arrest, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial procedures in criminal and juvenile proceedings and all civil processes and proceedings.”
…Enacting legislation like the DOJ wants would essentially suspend habeas corpus indefinitely until the emergency ended. Further, DOJ asked Congress to suspend the statute of limitations on criminal investigations and civil proceedings during the emergency until a year after it ended.
…They also asked Congress to pass a law saying that immigrants who test positive for COVID-19 cannot qualify as asylum seekers.
As coronavirus spreads through the country, activists are calling on politicians in office to release prisoners and immigrants held in detention centers, both of which can be a hotbed of virus activity with so many people in close quarters and limited or non-existent supplies of soap, sanitizer, and protective equipment.
DOJ Wants to Suspend Constitutional Rights for Coronavirus Emergency – Rolling Stone
Unamerican asshats
Maryland man fatally shot by police ‘while asleep in his bedroom’ | US news | The Guardian
A Maryland man who was shot and killed by a police officer was asleep in his bedroom when police opened fire from outside his house, an attorney for the 21-year-old man’s family said on Friday. The man’s girlfriend was also wounded.
…The warrant police obtained to search the Potomac home Lemp shared with his parents and 19-year-old brother does not mention any “imminent threat” to law enforcement or the public.
…“There is no warrant or other justification that would ever allow for that unless there is an imminent threat, which there was not,” Sandler said.
…“Any attempt by the police to shift responsibility on to Duncan or his family, who were sleeping when the police fired shots into their home, is not supported by the facts,” the statement says.
Maryland man fatally shot by police ‘while asleep in his bedroom’ | US news | The Guardian
hmmmm
Senate Intel chair sold up to $1.6 million in stock before market crash
Senate Intel chair sold up to $1.6 million in stock before market crash – Axios
In a different pre-Trump time, one might have assumed that Burr would end up in jail.
These days? Who knows?
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