I’ve been mentally composing a piece on Police Reforms for quite some time now, and will get to it in a day or so, but I want you all to start thinking about it in the frame of “What needs to be done” and “what can we do” and not get all wrapped around the axle with bullshit like petty squabbles about how calling it defunding the police was stupid. I’m not worried about selling the policies, that can come later. I’ll talk more about this in a couple of days.
Watergirl and I had a conversation today about the website and the various things that need to be fixed, and she started in on me about the ads again, and I guess a number of you have had complaints. Please use the damned complaint forms so I can see them. Hell, my email is there, and I believe it or not have a pretty good response rate to your emails. Watergirl and I will be contacting the developer and the ad guy in the upcoming weks, so in a few days I will also be posting a complaints/issues thread (don’t clog this thread with your bitching, pls, save it for the appropriate thread).
I started watching Resurrection: Ertugrul the other day on Netflix, and I just love that streaming services have opened up my viewing world to so many overseas dramas. All the people are so beautiful, and the foreign languages sound so exotic and mystical, even when they say mudane things. It’s fun.
I have decided that one of my favorite snacks is to refrigerate bell peppers (red, green, yellow, orange), cut them into strips, lightly salt them, and eat them raw. They are just so good- sweet and salty with a nice crisp crunch, and so juicy. They just feel and taste so good. And they are guilt free.
Steve goes to the groomer on Friday. I am not doing it on my own again. Fuck that.
Look at this fat bastard:
His coat is such a mess and he battles me when trying to brush him.
Suzanne
Excited to discuss police reform. When I discussed this with SuzMom last week, I suggested that for ten years, we only hire Black and Latino police.
Having lots of pandemic and state-of-the-world stress today. Wondering if there is ever a point at which I will ever stop being stressed about money. Lord have mercy.
craigie
I now have a serious Korean cop drama dependency problem, so yes.
Wag
Speaking of systemic racism and injustice directed towards Blacks, I think that we need a post about Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It was an intense and surprisingly deep exploration of racism in America. My son and I watched it, and had a really good time discussing it.
And smart move with Steve.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I like to eat a bowl full of blueberries for breakfast. Nothing beats blueberries.
John Cole
@Wag: It was EXCEPTIONAL. The writers brought it every week.
PsiFighter37
Ate tons of tacos today for CInco de Mayo. Did some reading and learned that the holiday is to celebrate Mexico defeating the French. I honestly had zero idea.
Separately, we are waiting for a contract to come back to us…my wife and I are doing what we said we would never do, which is to buy an apartment in Manhattan. Having kids and having to plan out longer ended up putting us in a place where buying a place became a bit of a no-brainer given the amount of square footage it has. It’s not the flashiest part of town (western part of Hell’s Kitchen), but it’s a good building, and the apartment itself has good bones to build on. All I can say is…I wish I had spent all the cash I am using for the down payment to buy Bitcoin last year. Would’ve made this a lot easier to handle!
eclare
Absolutely gorgeous here in Memphis, 68, sunny, breezy. I am watching Curb Your Enthusiasm reruns with the doors open.
eclare
@PsiFighter37: Good luck!
lowtechcyclist
The ads don’t cause any technical problems for me, but damn, so many of them are such stupid shit. If there was the option of paying to not see the ads, I’d be first in line.
SiubhanDuinne
AND they are so pretty! I love those colours. And since I like bell peppers, I’m going to take your suggestion for an anytime snack.
John, any news on your crow project? They are such smart birds, I know you’ll have fun with them.
Don’t know how much of value I’ll be able to contribute to the policing reform discussion, but I’ll try to capture some of the random thoughts I’ve had on the subject. Looking forward to the threads.
pat
I pay about 2$ a month to AdblockerPlus.
Worth every penny, and I am not a person who will ever be influenced by these ads anyway.
With that said, I’ll send a bit more to BJ to make up for the lost revenue.
;-)
satby
Wise move.
m.j.
Why do I pay for unmarked sports-cars, let alone tanks and drones.
Also ticket cams (I’m looking at you Cedar Rapids IA) can rake in millions for departments.
I’m thinking the cops aren’t all that underfunded.
Other MJS
FWIW the Lexicon seems unmodified since pre-TFG.
CaseyL
Spread the joy [to the groomers]! Is he getting the lion cut again?
Police reform is a hard topic to discuss without getting heated. I am a middle-aged white woman who has minimal interaction with cops, and even I have noticed over the last decade that they have gotten rougher in how they deal with people, more abrupt, more adversarial. I’ve also become considerably less trusting, less due to my own interactions than to the ones that make the news.
The police killings of black people are so blatantly plain murder, and there are so many of them, one after another. This, on the heels of hearing the Three Percenters and Oath Keepers boast about how they’ve infiltrated police forces. I suspect killing a black person – and getting away with it – is some kind of rite of initiation into the higher ranks of organized fascism.
different-church-lady
I’d be really interested in seeing that even in not-fully-baked form. Kind of a “work in progress” endeavor. Seems very worthwhile.
burnspbesq
Our former sheriff (he was voted out last November) got sued again today, by another citizen who alleges that deputies used excessive force. That’s three federal civil actions, plus indictments in two different counties in Texas for evidence tampering. Yeah, he was a piece of work.
piratedan
when it comes to policing there are quite a few problematic seams to be mined…
public oversight – namely we have seen it unfold where the PD determines that they are a law unto themselves and unencumbered by any legislative oversight
betrayal of public trust – the lack of repercussions when caught in a lie, if they lied about this thing (needing a no-knock warrant, falsifying evidence, making false statements) who’s to say what else they have lied about
changes in public enforcement – I would rather see them helping people in need (stranded on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck) than writing traffic citations
Need to play their part on what they need to do, i.e. all of the social services need to be staffed with their own people and if that comes from their budget, then that’s fine
Need to stop being as well armed as the national guard
Rotate from traffic enforcement to public relations to crime investigation, not everyone should be dealing with all of the worst aspects of society 24/7 as a career, you stop seeing people as people.
end personnel immunity
I understand a lot of these also require a change in how local jurisdictions use and fund local government services.
Frankensteinbeck
Open thread? The book release went pretty well! I’ve had much better, but it’s another big step forward, and after a year of releasing nothing it’s a miracle that it went well.
Another Scott
It will be good to think outside the box on policing. Lucy Worsley’s “A Very British Murder” series (from a few years ago) reminds us that London didn’t have a professional police force until 1829. The NYPD was created in May 1844.
The world has changed a lot since then, and our institutions need to change as society changes.
Cheers,
Scott.
different-church-lady
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah, I can’t really elevate that reaction to the level of an actual complaint, but seeing that that Zognet (or whatever it’s called, I’m drunk) clickbait over and over and over again really makes me despair for humanity.
I should not complain, because I’m too broke (and cheap) to contribute financially. But dayummm… what the fuck in wrong with people?
Benw
@Wag: falcon and winter soldier showed what every black person goes through at the hands of cops, banks, and even supposed allies. A discussion of our fucked up cop situation could start with the cop scene. That or Hate the Police
Benw
@Frankensteinbeck: woo hoo!
congrats!
zhena gogolia
I love Steve so much.
TS (the original)
Change in policing – have fewer police. Every strata in US society seems to have its own police force. The smallest of towns has to raise funds to support police. I doubt they have much money for anything else.
Roger Moore
I’ll repeat my regular refrain on police reform: it won’t do any good except as part of a broader legal reform. As long as our laws are designed to enforce an unjust social order, our law enforcement will be full of people who want an unjust social order.
There are those who call me...tim... (Still posh)
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
Freeze grapes. The smallest, sweetest, red seedless. Freeze grapes.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
For those who got interested in Operation Mallard last week:
Author Emma Newman posted a Twitter thread and video about her Dad’s adventures watching over a nest of duck eggs / hatchlings that Duck Mom for some reason had decided to lay on his balcony, nine stories up. It went viral and was covered by the press worldwide.
Those events happened last year. Operation Mallard 2 is due to go any moment now. In fact the projected date of hatching was today, but I haven’t seen any update so I assume it hasn’t happened yet. But meanwhile, Newman has created a YouTube channel where you can find the original Operation Mallard video and an Operation Mallard 2 update from a few days ago, describing some improvements in duck-lowering technology.
JMG
The deal is that in most East Coast cities (can’t speak for elsewhere) support from the openly fascistic police unions is a symbol for political candidates to white voters that “don’t worry, you’ll always come first.” So the unions grow like ticks on municipal budgets. It shouldn’t be that hard for “good pay, good benefits, but also accountability” to be written into contracts. Most folks would welcome policing that wasn’t straight from Warsaw 1943 no matter what neighborhoods they live in.
debbie
Here, they’ve reinstated night basketball to counter the ridiculous rate of gang violence, and they’ve returned to using bike cops who will cycle around communities and work to establish relationships with citizens. Meanwhile, the FOP are still assholes refusing to negotiate police reform, but at least there are some small steps being taken.
sdhays
Ban Glocks. Require police officers to carry weapons with real safeties. And force every officer to account for every bullet fired – mandatory desk work until review is completed.
And no more prioritizing the lives of the police. If someone dies at the hands of the police or in their custody, the people responsible need to submit to an independent review board. Even if the officer did nothing wrong, the process should be unpleasant.
Another Scott
@PsiFighter37: When we visited Vienna a few years ago, in the Before Times, we heard a little about Princess Sophie of Bulgaria and her second son Maximillian.
Who was Emperor of Mexico (until he was executed at 34):
Those wacky Hapsburgs had their fingers and toes in everything…
Cheers,
Scott.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Wag: Haven’t seen it yet but want to very soon.
I’ll also recommend “Two Distant Strangers”, which won the 2021 Oscar for Short Live-Action Film. It covers the same territory in a Groundhog-Day-style time loop with an encounter between a young black male and a white police officer at the core of it.
It’s on Netflix.
Skepticat
I don’t envy the groomer, but I agree you’ve made a very intelligent decision about Steve. My much-missed Maine coon cat didn’t mind the Furminator (one of the great product names of all time), but I was lucky that his coat seemed fairly resistant to matting. These three aren’t enthused about it, but at least they don’t draw blood.
I look forward to the police reform discussion.
Private windows and an ad blocker save me from the scourge of ads. I ought to feel guilty about that, having spent my life in advertising, but I don’t.
Roger Moore
@PsiFighter37:
It’s fun to think about that stuff, but ultimately you have to accept that you can’t always make the perfect decision. You might have been in better shape to buy a house if you had put your money in the right risky investment a year ago. But you’d be in no shape to buy a house at all if you had put your money in the wrong risky investment and lost everything.
To me, this is the single biggest lesson in investing: the biggest trick is not to invest in something that loses you everything. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If something seems too good to be true, don’t invest. There are more good investments out there than you have money, so don’t worry too much about missing out on any one of them. There will always be another chance to get in on something good, but only as long as you still have money to invest in it.
Bill Arnold
@burnspbesq:
Who pays in this case? Did taxpayers save money by voting him out?
Fair Economist
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Operation Mallard 2 happened successfully yesterday. High winds forced a mild change of plans (I think he had to take the ducket inside briefly so he could use a different balcony) but it was still a success. Emma Newman says she is editing a video as we speak but asks for patience as video editing is new to her.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Apparently Operation Mallard 2 did in fact happen. I can’t find an update by Emma Newman, but here’s a news story.
@Fair Economist: Yep, just saw that.
In the Mallard 2 video on the YouTube channel, he mentions that high winds are forecast and explains the system borrowed from the Royal Navy that he planned to use. It has two ropes and a person on the ground steadying the bucket and the ropes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So am I the only geezer who, when he hears about the Bonaparte-Habsburg misadventure in Mexico, things about the Dick Van Dyke episode when Rob bought Laura a genuine replica of the Empress Carlotta’s coronation necklace?
Steeplejack
@lowtechcyclist:
Use an ad blocker and throw in a donation occasionally. Problem solved.
Another Scott
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: [ rofl ]
I honestly don’t remember the Dick Van Dyke show being that cultured!
Season 1, Episode 12 (25:34)
Cheers,
Scott.
RepubAnon
@different-church-lady: Yes, our society really needs to get control of the police again. Back in the “crime is out of control” days, training changed from “protector” mindset to “warrior” mindset. We’ve now got a police force where the top-to-bottom mentality is the warrior cop. Training the rookies won’t help much if the senior officers promptly train them to be warriors.
Next up is civilian control. If it’s good enough for the military, it’s good enough for the police. Pass laws making the civilian review board powers mandatory, and impossible to overturn in a contract. Oh, and get rid of the “Police Bill of (special) Rights.” Police should have the same rights as the rest of us – no less, and no more.
Most important, make police disciplinary records available to the oversight boards and to the public. It’s hard to weed out the “bad apples” from a barrel if you aren’t allowed to inspect that barrel’s contents.
Pie in the sky, I know, but an out-of-control police department is just another street gang, better armed and organized, but just a street gang.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Operation Mallard was wonderful, and I’m crossing everything (fingers, eyes, etc.) that OM2 will also be a great success. You seem to be right on top of the story, so I hope you’ll share all the updates as they come along.
ETA: Just saw in other comments that it happened successfully, albeit with some late adjustments to original plans. I’ll be happy to see the video when Emma posts it.
Steeplejack
@Frankensteinbeck:
Congratulations! ?
PsiFighter37
@Roger Moore: I’m well aware. It’s more frustrating because I have a friend who has worked in the crypto space for 8-9 years, and I constantly rolled my eyes about it. But I’m not hung up about it. I work in finance so getting hung up on hindsight would not be a good skill to cultivate. The comment was more about just how expensive buying housing it – and the fact that even though rents in NYC have come way down, it still makes far more sense to buy now, especially with a kid, than it does to rent.
Robert Sneddon
@sdhays: One suggestion I saw made was that US police officers would be required to carry personal malpractice insurance, just like medical doctors. It’s a free-market solution so right-wingers can’t complain in that regard and it saves taxpayers money since payouts for wrongful death, corruption, false imprisonment, assault etc. are covered by the private insurers and not by the local population.
Of course violent and crooked cops are going to see their insurance premiums soar year after year which is the point.
Suzanne
@Roger Moore:
Real estate has me so depressed right now. How can anyone afford to live anywhere if they don’t have a trust fund?!
Hungry Joe
Police should be semi-disarmed: carry weapons in their cars, but not on their person. Strict protocols for when to take a weapon (robbery in progress, arresting a suspect with a history of violence) and when not to (traffic stop, neighborhood/domestic dispute). If a situation escalates, they can always back off, retreat to the car, and arm up. A full report to be written by the officer(s) and reviewed by independent committee every time a weapon is removed.
This will hardly make police sitting ducks — almost every police officer death takes place in a situation in which the cop would have armed him/herself under the new protocols or is a flat-out ambush/assassination in which the weapon is of no use anyway.
Kathleen
@John Cole: You might appreciate this retrospective on how Cincinnati reformed its police department through a collaborative agreement. Bush’s Justice Department was also involved. We’ve come a long long way.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/let-s-talk-cincy-where-we-stand-20-years-later/36143833
Ruckus
@Suzanne:
Unless you have enough money to be comfortable and aren’t a needy person – meaning your needs aren’t actual needs but desires that you can live without, you will always have money somewhere near the front of your thought process. It helps if you don’t spend a lot of money on stupid shit, like 1200 semi automatic weapons and enough ammo to win the battle of the bulge, or an $80K car to impress your neighbors who likely think you are insane in any event. Most do not have a life where they can make or do something that they like and that pays well enough that the first premise is made. I tried to do that with my bicycle shop but GWB’s 08 recession fucked that up. Of course I’m not alone in having to make up for that over the last 12 yrs, so that I could retire and then having shitforbrains over the last 4 yrs, which is the shit icing on the shit cake.
Brachiator
@PsiFighter37:
I will throw this in again from a previous thread.
When I was a school kid, I was taught a little bit about Cinco de Mayo, and the French attempt to rule Mexico, but nothing deep and nothing about what led up to this. But in reading a bit more, I came to understand how a nation can willingly try to give itself to a foreign power, for example, Trump and the Republicans doing Putin’s bidding.
Some background about Meixo’s Reform War (1857-1860):
In short, the liberal forces won and Benito Juarez became president.But resentments simmered, and in the end many of the Mexican elite welcomed the French, because they preferred having a foreign nation rule over them than sharing power with indigenous and “lower class” Mexicans.
ETA: The US was not happy with the French conquest of Mexico, but got distracted by the Civil War. When the French took control again later, Juarez’ wife stayed in New York and later met President Lincoln.
In 1866 the US Congress opposed formal support for the Mexican forces opposing the French, but the US Army found a way to have arms conveniently deposited across the border so that Juarez’ fighters could get them.
West of the Rockies
That cat… The Round Mound of Renown!
JoyceH
@CaseyL:
Totally apart from the racism issue, I think police HAVE become rougher and more aggressive. Over a decade ago, at the height of the Iraq War, I read an article where the writer looked back into history and said that after EVERY war, the nation experiences an increase in police brutality. Reason is that the police forces are joined by returning soldiers who are used to patrolling occupied territory where everyone should be considered an armed enemy.
This time, though, rather than trying to change that mindset, too many police departments are embracing it, with this weird and goofy ‘killology’ training that tries to create the same mindset among civilian cops who’ve never even experienced military service. Banning that sort of training should be any easy first step. Our neighborhoods are NOT occupied territory!
Other stuff – get police out of mental health emergency calls and traffic infringement stops. Mandate use of those policecams our taxes spent so much money on. Stomp on the police unions who defend the guys who never should have been let in in the first place. Civilian panels to review police brutality complaints. National registry so the thugs fired by one department can’t just cross a county line and get rehired. Make the cops who witness and don’t stop brutality equally culpable with the brutalizer. Weed out the brutes and hire officer friendlys and train deescalation. None of this stuff is rocket surgery…
mrmoshpotato
Yes.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Didn’t think of it right away, but I certainly remember the episode.
JoyceH
Oh, and the food issue – I’ve just recently discovered red and yellow bell peppers – the greens are just too tart-sour for me. But red bells make an excellent addition to a roast beef sandwich.
Suzanne
@Ruckus: I men, we are very financially stable. Only debt other than utilities is student loans, which are considerable, but we are on income-based repayment. I just can’t shake the thought that I can never move again.
debbie
@Brachiator:
I didn’t realize it’s also the date Napoleon died. Double joy!
Starfish
@Hungry Joe: I thought domestic disputes were some of the most dangerous things.
The Moar You Know
Roger Moore
@Suzanne:
They could win the lottery. I agree, though; housing prices are far enough out of control to constitute a crisis. I thought it was bad when I bought 10 years ago, and it’s only gotten worse. I’m starting to think I might want some place a bit bigger than where I am now, and it just seems hopeless. I may be able to get there, but it will require some very good luck.
raven
We just watched “Ruby in Paradise” with Ashley Judd. It was the first movie we saw together over 20 years ago and it was better than we remembered.
VeniceRiley
Hillary had a plan. Do we have anything that would improve on that plan?
namekarB
One of many things that need to be repaired in America is the election of County Sheriffs. Alternatively, require the sheriff to be be under the authority of the county government. Too many sheriffs flaunt their authority to the county. Example #1) County enacts some measure of safety due to pandemic. Sheriff says I disagree and “my” deputies will NOT enforce that mandate. Example #2) State legislature passes a gun control law signed by governor. County Sheriffs (in rural areas naturally) say they will not enforce the new law.
Yeah, google told me a heap of “elected” sheriffs think the law begins and ends with their own interpretation.
Steeplejack
@raven:
Good movie. I haven’t seen it since it first came out. I was thinking that Ulee’s Gold would be a good bookend; then I looked it up and saw that it’s the same director, Victor Nunez. Winter’s Bone, too (bookend, not director), even though it’s much later (2010).
raven
@Steeplejack: Yes, and based on a Jane Austen. We’ve been going to that part of the Gulf Coast for about 18 years and really didn’t remember that if was filmed in Panama City Beach. Much of what is in it is gone.
J R in WV
I think a police officer who fires their weapon and shoots someone instantly loses their job unless they are being fired upon before they open fire, with proof on body cams. No pension, no severance, just no longer eligible to be a police officer anywhere, nor carry a weapon in civilian life.
Shoot someone unarmed in the back, go to jail, do not collect $200. No pension, no questions.
Should be part of the hiring process, they should sign a contract with that requirement in the second paragraph. No federal $$ for any department without that stipulation in every officer’s contract.
This might take some work, fine tuning, and development, but we can’t have cops who are wild shooters on the job. You open fire, you’re outta there.
Frankensteinbeck, have really enjoyed the teen supervillian/superhero series, will check out the new release asap!
Brachiator
@Frankensteinbeck:
Congratulations on the book release.
laura
The insouciance of that sassy leg gets me every time. Steve is a magnificent bastard.
Zanamu
Police reform: 1. As our daughter’s marriage has fallen to the pandemic, my hubby & I have been doing A LOT of travelling between Nebraska & Milwaukee. The “short way” that saves 30 minutes is via the Illinois tollways. We don’t stop any more [pandemic, duh]. Instead, they photograph our license plates, and suck the money out of my checking account because this can be arranged online. My daughter with her PhD hasn’t figured this bit out, but we own her car as well, and the State of Illinois kindly mails us a bill for that vehicle (with extra fees, because that extra sheet of paper, envelope, & stamp are worth about $10.) WHY are we using police to deal with minor traffic crap that the postal system & public cameras could deliver? 2. If we don’t restrict who can own firearms, there is no chance in hell the police will give up their “ready, fire, aim” mentality. I get it. The dumber the citizen, the more likely that citizen has a firearm, and the more likely a cop will get hurt. 3. Qualified immunity must go. Policing mistakes are fatal mistakes. Training has a purpose; if current police training is not sufficient, then the training should be changed. Yesterday in Mississippi, a murder suspect was shot dead by police. SO WAS THE BABY HE KIDNAPPED. In no universe is shooting into a vehicle that may also carry an infant hostage a “good idea.” Do we want to hazard a guess as to the race of the infant? This was both sin and crime. 4. Blue Lives Matter must be discredited. People CHOOSE to be cops. Policing is not in the top ten, or even the top 15 most dangerous professions in the US. In the mean while, cops in the US kill more than 3 people per day on average, generally with no career penalty whatsoever. 5. We also need to start counting and reporting how many fatalities result from contact with police, because not all incidents are related to firearms; fatality counts are often quite specific. 6. It is too hard to fire a bad cop. Interestingly, for all the “unions are bad” terrors from the right, some of the most powerful unions in the US are police and fire unions. One would think they would value their credibility more, but here we are. 7. I would like to see police officers required to have at least a bachelors degree, and this is less because of education than of maturity. Life experiences have meaning. So do exercise in critical thinking. Police officers enjoy relatively good pensions, & high salaries vis-a-vis education. Because no one is forced to be a cop, perhaps raising the qualifications bar might serve a higher community purpose.
Steeplejack
@raven:
I used to go to Perdido Key, occasionally St. George Island (off Apalachicola).
That whole stretch from Mobile to Pensacola has changed completely. I can remember when the part around Gulf Shores was a little hick dump. A nice hick dump, but still . . .
Andrya
I like The Moar You Know’s idea- let awards for damages for police misconduct impact the police department’s budget. It would not even be necessary to have the entire award come from the police department’s budget (probably not practical anyway). If every award for misconduct significantly reduced the police budget, police management will be highly motivated to crack down on misconduct.
Also, stop the war on drugs. The reason so many people run away or evade traffic stops is that the police are incentivized to turn every traffic stop into a drug bust if they possibly can. The reason the police are scared during traffic stops is that a certain proportion of drivers are carrying drugs, and those guys are incentivized to do almost anything to avoid a long prison sentence. If all the driver had to fear was a ticket, the level of violence on both sides would go down.
Steeplejack
@Zanamu:
Good comment.
Sandia Blanca
First, on the topic of Steve, good plan to go with a professional. But isn’t that LILY’s fancy new bed? So much for that plan.
Second, on the topic of the police, I highly recommend following Patrick Skinner on Twitter if you don’t already: Patrick Skinner (@SkinnerPm) / Twitter He is a former CIA officer who came home to Savannah, GA to become a policeman (now a detective). His philosophy on local policing is based on the concept of “neighbors” and community. There’s an excellent New Yorker article on Skinner from 2018: The Spy Who Came Home | The New Yorker
You may also have read his recent Washington Post column on the Derek Chauvin conviction: Police officers like me need to take the Chauvin verdict personally – The Washington Post
But one of the best things about Patrick Skinner is his menagerie of dogs and cats, which he documents daily with hilarious narratives. Reminds me of another popular blogger . . .
LeftCoastYankee
“Resurrection: Ertugrul” has been my guilty pleasure for the last few weeks. It’s an entertaining mix of history, family/community/political melodrama, philosophical musings, and improbably successful sword fights.
And like any classic serial, the baddies are inventive (they seem to have much faster horses), persistent and troublesome, but the goodies eventually prevail against their schemes, without ever (yet) completely vanquishing the baddies.
JAFD
Dear Mr. Cole – and WaterGirl and all the other folk who keep this blog going,
Thank you, very much !
Mai Naem mobile
I think cops should be required to carry their own professional liability insurance like medical professions do. It may not initially lead to bad cops resigning but what will eventually happen is that bad cops won’t be able to obtain insurance because of insurance payouts, thus ending their careers.
Paul
Change can only come when White people truly understand how slavery benefitted the country and themselves.
am
Ads? Show me ads. Make them for Republican PACs and campaigns so I can click on them and have them pay for this site. Let me click on some Parler and Proud Boy ads so you can use their filthy money for frivolous pet toys. It’s a damn privilege to see an ad or two to support this _free_ site. Watergirl does great job and things have been better than they have in years.
RAM
My two pennies on what needs to be done with law enforcement as a bare starting point:
1. Use federal aid to law enforcement agencies to mandate psych testing for all serving LEOs as a first step in weeding out the crazies.
2. Use that same federal aid stick to eliminate the LE training companies that are teaching violence as standard LEO behavior, and create minimum standards training companies have to meet before they’re allowed to train anyone.
3. Mandate minimum training standards by approved trainers all LE agencies must meet to be eligible for federal aid.
4. Stop the transfer of military weaponry to police agencies.
5. Establish a federal database of all U.S. LEOs to track their behavior so that bad officers can’t get hired again after they’ve been fired for cause, as well as to track ALL uses of force by every officer and agency in the country.
Nononan
Steve looks like a kitty chalupa.
SWMBO
Here is a link to Operation Mallard 2.
https://twitter.com/EmApocalyptic/status/1390338388226711554?s=20