The BBC has an interesting piece about the bus siege by a rogue cop in which eight tourists were killed. The good news I think we would do better here. In related news, have you heard that the Chicago Cubs are going to move to the Philippines? They’re changing their name are will now be called the Manila Folders (sorry,…
Month: August 2010
Islamophobia?
I’m pro-Muslim. I sound funny just saying that. I’m not too keen on religion or zealots in general. But why would I be anti-Muslim any more than anti-Jew or anti-Christian? I have good friends who are Muslims. I have students who are Muslims. I have neighbors who are Muslim. I’ve traveled to Muslim countries. Muslims all nice people. Well, not…
Killing Mexicans
Seems to be the latest sport in East Baltimore. Martin Reyes, who wasn’t Mexican, is the fifth Hispanic shooting or homicide victim in the area in less than two month. All the victims are Honduran. And moved into a neighborhood that desperatelyneeds an influx of hard-working non-criminals. The killer (is there where I’m supposed to add, “alleged”?), African-American paroled drug…
Cairo Art Heist
Yes, I too was more surprised that a bunch of priceless paintings are housed in a Cairo museum that the fact that a Van Gogh was stolen. But get this: they didn’t steal the real one! According to an Egyptian source of mine, the real one was stolen a decade ago when corrupt American-supported dictator/pharaoh Hosni Mubarak’s mysterious “business tycoon”…
“Legal to smoke it…”
Boom Chicago over in Amsterdam (my brother’s theater) made a funny video about changes in Amsterdam and the drug scene. The guy in the video, Greg Shapiro, and I arrived in Amsterdam same year same time. He’s very funny. I poured his beers. The other videos are pretty good, too. Check out Tiger Woods’ Apology Outtakes.
L.V. F-Up
Now I wasn’t there, but as I understand it… A pothead and occasional seller in Las Vegas, let’s call him “Vegas Cole,” is sitting with his pregnant fiance on a Friday night watching TV. Police bust down the door and shoot and kill him. Just another day in the drug war, right? Police did find a small amount a weed,…
Our Evening Constitional Past the Mosque
We went on a “hidden harbor” tour Tuesday evening that went through NY Harbor and down to Port Elizabeth (by Newark Airport). Industrial decay… working harbor… good stuff! It was a beautiful evening. But as a harbor, compared to Rotterdam, it looks like Single-A. The guide said the biggest six harbors in the world are now all in China. …
Tasers equal fewer injuries
That’s the result of a study by Bruce Taylor and Daniel J. Woods of PERF in Police Quarterly. You can’t read the whole article without a subscription, but here’s the abstract (CED = taser, to you and me): The Conducted Energy Device (CED) weapon holds the potential to reduce injuries for officers/suspects. However, the dearth of research on CEDs makes…
$4.9 million for the estate of Kathryn Johnston
Four years after it happened. One of the worst happenings in the War on Drugs.
Not Ground Zero Mosque
I wasn’t going to post on this… perhaps other than to say it’s absurd that we’re debating the right of a people in our country to build a house of worship. It’s kind of like debating legal segregation. Haven’t we moved past this a long time ago? (Or not so long ago in the case of racial segregation.) I don’t…