A review written by me of The Thin Black Line: published in the Washington Post’s Book World. It’s a collection of stories told by black law-enforcement officers. Not a great book, unfortunately. But the review is well worth reading: THE THIN BLACK LINE: True Stories by Black Law Enforcement Officers Policing America’s Meanest Streets. By Hugh Holton. Reviewed by Peter…
A Sheriff in Alabama was jailed for “blatant” violation of past court agreements that prisoners be properly cared for. It seems he had been, legally mind you, profiting from the leftover money allocated for prisoners’ food (all of $1.75 per person per day!). Here’s the story in the Times.
Traffic tickets go up when local government revenue falls. Is that a surprise? Not really. Here’s the story in St. Louis Today. The study, by Thomas Garrett and Gary Wagner, quantifies it: “Controlling for other factors, a 1 percentage point drop in local government revenue leads to a roughly .32 percentage point increase in the number of traffic tickets in…
The big police news of the week is probably the police-involved shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant (a black man) at a Bart Station in Oakland. Riotshave followed. I hate riots and those who justify them. Like there’s any justification to bust up a hair salon called “African Braids”. And here’s to Oscar Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson. She is quotedas saying:…
I think the most amazing thing is that he kept the cigarette in his mouth the whole time! Pictures are here.
After a pleasant tour of Santa Cruz, San Francisco, a long and nice train ride to Chicago. 55 hours, but in a sleeper car. After all, what could be finer than dinner in the diner (actually 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts, and 3 lunches)? The train through Colorado is beautiful. But rural Illinois makes me the Chicago snob in me shudder.…