What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
The sheer volume of information means valuable resources are spent chasing down false leads, instead of honing in on viable intel about people set to cause real harm.
Former FBI Agent: Our Terrorism Strategy Isn’t Working | Brennan Center for Justice
hmmm
My four-year-old daughter recently discovered Star Wars, and life will never be the same again. It’s out with Elsa and Anna, in with Han Solo and Luke Skywalker – and instead of a princess dress for Christmas, she’s already talking about lightsabers. At bath time we speak Wookiee, and she asks excitedly if, each Sunday, we can sit down to “watch the next one” (in the order they were made, of course).
…Add to that the multitude of well-meaning sentiments from friends and family: “If you have a boy, that’s when the fun really starts!”, “You’ll have your work cut out if it’s a boy!”, “Be prepared – it’ll be very physical!”
At times like this, I look at my glorious, spirited, fiercely independent little girl, clambering to the very top of the climbing frame, while boys twice her age – and size – watch nervously from below. I watch her legs wrap firmly around the metal bars, her eyes set on the slide ahead, her teeth grit together in grim determination. She gives a sharp and simple nod to my cautionary, “Be careful…”. I am proud.
hmmm
Kelvin Sewell, fired from his job as chief of the Pocomoke City Police Department, and two black officers allege systemic harassment and a hostile atmosphere.
Fired Police Chief and 2 Others Sue, Charging Racial Bias in Maryland – The New York Times
sigh…
Alas, video has confirmed the truth once again. An NYPD off-duty police officer waited about one second before shooting and killing a driver in what is being termed a “road rage” incident on Monday…
NYPD Shooting of Motorist Caught on Video; the Initial “Story” Doesn’t Match the Evidence
As long as police officers allow other officers to perpetrate unlawful violence every single one of them is culpable for every single violent crime committed by a thug with a badge.
<facepalm>
Young Asian Americans are joining forces on the Web to craft a letter to their immigrant families about why Black Lives Matter matters.
Asian Americans are crowdsourcing a letter to explain Black Lives Matter to their families
ohmigawd, verklempt!
This morning, The Kansas City Star published a spectacularly destructive article by Laura Herrick on the ways in which women can adjust their lifestyles and actions to prevent rape from happening…
yup.
“Women can take action to prevent rapes” is a real Midwest Voices opinion column that appears on The Kansas City Star’s website.
The Kansas City Star publishes column in defense of rape | Kansas City Pitch
Oi….
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) had some surprising words on race Friday after a tragic week.
“It took me a long time, and a number of people talking to me through the years to get a sense of this,” Gingrich …told CNN. “If you are a normal white American, the truth is you don’t understand being black in America.
…White Americans ‘instinctively underestimate the level of discrimination and the level of additional risk’ facing black Americans today.
…They are substantially more likely to end up in a situation where the police don’t respect you and you could easily get killed. And sometimes for whites it’s difficult to appreciate how real that is and how it’s an everyday danger.”
Gingrich: White people ‘don’t understand being black in America’ – NY Daily News
hmmm
But the decision to deliver a bomb by robot stunned some current and former law enforcement officials, who said they believed the new tactic blurred the line between policing and warfare.
They said that it might have been an excessive use of force and that it set a precedent, adding that they were concerned that other departments across the country could begin using the same tactic.
‘Bomb Robot’ Takes Down Dallas Gunman, but Raises Enforcement Questions
Earth to officers, you are neither judge nor jury. Assholes.
“One of the worries that cops have is that no cop can control what another cop does, but all cops will be judged by what the other cop does,” Chief Brandon del Pozo of the Burlington Police Department said. [emphasis: mine]
In Week of Emotional Swings, Police Face a Dual Role: Villain and Victim
Bull fucking shit. You can hold other cops accountable to the same laws you are sworn to uphold. You can refuse to help cover-up crimes committed by other officers. You can be honest and uphold the law or you can cower and cover for the criminal conduct of other officers. The choice is up you, officer. So don’t blame the public for creating a situation that the line blue line created. If officers held other officer accountable then none of you would be in this situation.
You don’t like it? Change how your departments work. Whining about problems that you are part of creating/continuing is nothing more than narcissistic childish bullshit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she doesn’t want to think about the possibility of Donald Trump winning the White House, and she predicts the next president — “whoever she will be” — will have a…
AP interview: Ginsburg doesn’t want to envision a Trump win
hmmm
Chicago native and NBA star Jabari Parker dived into the firestorm over former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh’s [not so] veiled threat to President Obama .
Jabari Parker warns Joe Walsh: You won’t lay ‘a single finger’ on Obama – Chicago Tribune
sigh…
Brian Williams return to NBC during live coverage of the tragic violence in Dallas was not well-received on social media.
…It was an inauspicious return for the former “Nightly News” anchor, just his third appearance on NBC since his six-month suspension in February 2015 for misrepresenting his experiences during the Iraq war.
As snipers targeting law enforcement officers brought an end to a previously peaceful protest regarding police violence, Williams called the events a “national emergency” and informed viewers that any reporting would be done through the “fog of war.”
…Many on the social media platform took offense at Williams’ characterizations of events as they took place, with some suggesting that his remarks were full-on irresponsible.
Brian Williams returns to NBC for Dallas coverage and Twitter is unimpressed – LA Times
He
Man, Brian Williams is doing a _lot_ of irresponsible, declarative speculating on @MSNBC tonight. @CNN should pick this guy up!
— Wil Wheaton (@wilw) July 8, 2016
Heh.
Cops in Alton Sterling shooting investigated five times in seven years
The fact they still had their badges is crime in itself.
Shortly after the first shots rang out, his brother, Cory Hughes, approached police to see if he could assist them. Upon receiving a phone call that he was a person of interest, Mark Hughes said, he handed his rifle over to the police, who questioned him and then released him. A Facebook video shows Mark Hughes unslinging his gun and giving it to officers, encouraged by his brother. Texas permits open carry of long guns like Hughes’s rifle.
…“They have received thousands of death threats already,” said attorney Corwyn Davis during the conference. “Unfortunately, there was a lot of negligence with that picture.” Davis said it was also unclear when or if the Hughes brothers were read their Miranda rights at the police station.
“But he was toting a rifle as he marched in protest.” (So fucking what!!! When is the last time a white person was accused of a crime because they exercised their right to open carry?!!)
There is no justice in the American court system but if there was the officers who sent out that tweet would arrested, tried, and convicted for the crimes of inciting a riot, endangering the welfare of the public, and interfering with an investigation.
I’ll settle for this man suing the entire city into the Dark Ages.
If anything happens to him or his brother because of the police being so careless with the facts, the officers who spread his picture around should be tried and convicted of Murder 1.
“I just got out of the interrogation room for about 30 minutes with police officers lying, saying they had video of me shooting, which is a lie,” Hughes told CBS 11 News live on the air. “That they have witnesses saying I shot a gun, which is a lie. I mean, at the end of the day, the system is trying to get me.”
Original Dallas Shooting Suspect Released From Custody « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
The citizens and the individual officers deserve better.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas on Friday called the protesters assembled in Dallas the night before “hypocrites” for expecting police protection from the sniper fire while they were protesting police violence.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Calls Protesters ‘Hypocrites’ – The New York Times
If by hypocrites he meant tax-paying citizens entitled to the protection of the individuals who are paid to do so….
Nah, don’t give this guy any credit.
He’s just a total fucking asshole, who is a complete bigot to boot.
Karma would have him getting lynched and burned alive the next time he steps outside.
Cops are not more important that the people it is their sworn duty to protect. Cops lives do not have more value than that of the average citizen. Anyone who believes otherwise is a fascist.
#PrayForTexit
“If you actually bothered to read a book and not gossip magazines, you might know these things,” Martin says
Roland Martin Tells Wendy Williams to ‘Shut the Hell Up’
oh, snap.
Police said 24-year-old Melissa Ventura died at the hospital after being shot [an] unknown number of times. [emphasis: mine]
Yuma sheriff’s deputy fatally shoots woman who had a knife | 12NEWS.com
I won’t buy a word of the cops story until the police provide proof supporting their version of the story.
It is the police in this country who have elected themselves judge and jury and consider every citizen guilty until proven innocent, so that is how each and every single one of them should be treated.
Until proven otherwise, the officers in this case are cold-blooded murderers and lawless thugs who bring shame to their badge.
