Evanston, Illinois, is where I’m from. Getting caught with less than 10 grams of weed will not be an arrestable offense and won’t go on your criminal record. “It does not say that it’s okay to smoke pot, but it does say that they don’t have to live in fear of having a record follow them the rest of their…
Month: November 2011
“Beware of the Risen People”
In Dublin, these neighborhoods with their uniform rowhomes remind me of Baltimore. The grittiness of Dublin was a bit of a refreshing shock after the pastoral beauty of rural Hampshire. Even though I have nothing but nice things to say about the English, in Ireland I felt like I was back on home ground. From where I’m from (Chicago, Boston…)…
What day is it?
“I don’t think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police,” said Bill O’Reilly of Fox News. OK. But can’t we at least Saturday-evening quarterbackthe police? See, the problem is that these police did notmake bad split-second decisions in the heat of the moment. Technically, tactically, and legally they did nothing wrong (which doesn’t make it right). (Of course…
Dumb-ass Training and the U.C. Davis Pepper Spray Incident:
I’m in Dublin. I love Ireland (though England was great, too). I received an email from the Washington Monthly (you may remember them as one of the first magazines to publish a Flogging piece) asking my opinion about the UC Davis pepper-spray incident. I hadn’t heard of it. But ignorance is not bliss. So now I’ve watched the video. I…
Right Wing Lies (V)
From the Washington Monthly(called out by them… not their lie): President Obama told business leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that U.S. policymakers have been “a little bit lazy” when it comes to attracting businesses to American soil. Republicans have taken this line and said the president called Americans “lazy.” The GOP attack is an unambiguous lie. It’s…
Occupy Updates
The best current/live account of what’s going on is from a UK paper. (Why is that?) The Guardian. Also, I wrote an update to my Slate article.
Egypt pics
I just added some picture from Egypt (to a previous post). Scroll down if you care.
Police vs. Occupy Wall Street
Turns out I dohave a few thoughts about police and Occupy Wall Street. Read all about it on Slate.com: If cops could wave a magic wand, the protesters would simply go away. But if cops could wave a magic wand, the whole damned city would probably disappear. Police relate to the demoralized employees in the film Clerks: “This job would…
The Revolution Will Return After This Commercial Break
I’m back from a few days in Cairo. I’m not an Egypt expert. But I probably follow the country more than most people because I have Egyptian friends, my wife has spent a lot of time there, and I’ve been there a bunch of times. First the good news: Egyptians are still friendly, holding up well, and there are taxis…
Patrolman Kelly
Has Ray Kelly ever fixed a ticket? I’ll take him at his word that he hasn’t. But has Ray Kelly ever written a ticket? I mean, how long was Kelly on patrol?