…to pay for police. Newark laid off police and murders are up 71percent this year. That’s penny wise and pound foolish. The Newark Star-Ledgerreports.
NYPD Stop and Frisks and Marijuana Arrests
WNYC reporter Ailsa Chang reports on the curious link between stop and frisks and marijuana arrests in New York City. It’s curious because small-scale possession of marijuana in New York State isn’t a crime (it is a non-arrestable ticketable “violation”). Nor do drugs that are “immediately apparent” based on “plain-feel” during a “Terry Frisk” (for weapons) give police justification to…
Faith and the Badge
NYPD Sergeant (and Cop in the Hood fan) Martin Browne is interviewed about being Catholic and being a cop. It’s a good interview.
An Easter Flogging
The first article to come from my new book is out in the Chronicle of Higher Education. A crazy idea came from a dinner in New Orleans. I had cold-called (or whatever the e-mail equivalent is) a writer and his wife because I was a fan of his work and thought we had much in common. They were gracious enough…
Mexican Poet Against the Drug War
I’m back from Mexico City, happy to have been there. No, I didn’t get sick (or mugged). Yes, I ate everything (including grasshopper quesadillas, which I can say are tasty, but it’s still best not to lift the tortilla and look at the critters melted in with the cheese). But I’m also happy to be back at low altitude. Seriously,…
Riot Police Drinking on the Job…
…isn’t such a big deal in France. Or maybe now it is. Either way, seems like the French attitude (the Italians do pretty much the same) is much healthier than our own American attitude toward alcohol.
Union Power (II)
Two unions I support, simply because they have kick-ass logos (on par with my local International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers)! I particularly admire the telephone operators union logo and the fact that there was a vendor outside the building selling t-shirts and coffee mugs withtheir logo. I bought one of each.
Mexico City and Five Other Safe Places in Mexico
Just FYI, since I’m down in Mexico City right now: Despite all the drug chaos in the north of Mexico–the state of Chihuahua has a homicide rate of 300 per 100,000 (compared to 36 in Baltimore City and 6.5 in New York City)–most of Mexico is much safer than most of America. Here’s an article about the five safest places…
Meet me at the corner…
My wife and I were strolling through a deserted (and safe) Mexico City late last night when we stumbled across this doozy of an intersection.
William Schaefer (1921-2011)
He was as through-back to another time, a less politically correct time. I liked his moxie, even if I have mixed feelings about his urban vision. He was a one-man political institution, and certainly Baltimore would have been worse off without him. His obit in the Baltimore Sun and the New York Times.