Oh, jeeze, I wish it didn’t have to end this way. San Diego Police Officer Jeremy Henwood’s last act before being ambushed and killed by a suicidal gunman was to buy a 13-year-old boy cookies. For real.
Flash Mob Taos style, 1884
From the New York Times: “The Feast of San Jeronimo: How it is observed by the Indians of Taos (from the Denver Tribune) After the racing was over a gang of reckless fellows strolled around the plaza with apparently perfect license to do as they pleased. They walked along paying, seemingly, no attention to the hucksters who exhibited their wares…
A little history of the courts and the plea bargain
From the NYT: Conventional histories cite the mid-1700s as the turning point in the development of the modern adversarial system of justice in England and Colonial America, with defense lawyers and prosecutors facing off in court, Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Turkel said. Their analysis tells a different story, however. “Mapping all trials suggests that the real moment of evolution was…
You know you’ve jumped the shark…
…when you post pictures of a slug. But I don’t have a dog. I found this little guy in my backyard trying to molest a grape. His two eyes stick out a lot further when I’m not trying to take a picture from inches away. Did you know this kind of slugcan live 3 years, has a breathing hole, and…
Flash Mob steals from 7-11
In Germantown, Montgomery County, Maryland. Anybody got any ideas how to prevent this? Is it possible to lock everybody insidethe store? Certainly if catch one of the kids, it would be pretty easy to get them to snitch. But then what? It would take a lot of police work simply to bring shoplifing charges against a lot of kids.
Sticks and Stones…
Hey Republicans… you know why “treason” matters more than other insults? Because the Constitution mentions treason seven times, you want every idiot to be able to carry a gun, and treason is usually punishable by execution. But what do I know? I’m just another “lib”. I wonder what Karl Rove would say? Oh… I guess Karl is getting soft. Uh,…
We [heart] Syria
Here are some thoughts on Syria. Actually they’re my wife’s thoughts, but I second them. I’ve never traveled in any country where the people have been as nice, hospitable, and honest as the average Syrian (and also not pushy or sleazy). It’s also perhaps the cleanest country I’ve been in (I’ve never been to Japan). The food is delicious… as…
Homicide: Toronto vs. Chicago
I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth a second telling. Besides, how many of you read footnote #14 to the Epilogue of Cop in the Hood? Chicago and Toronto are similar sized cities. Chicago is having a record low number of murders; Toronto is having a record high number of murders. Chicago is patting itself on the back; Toronto…
Maybe it’s not such a crazy idea…
Here’s me defending flogging for my favorite TV news show, the NewsHour. It’s very interesting that the option of flogging over prison currently registers over 70% support in their online poll. This mirrors the earlier newser survey in which 63% percent thought is was “brilliant” and another 13% found it “intriguing” (20% clicked in one of the negative categories).