Jesse Walker writes about it in Reason. [thanks to Dan K.]
Bangkok Police Rackets
If you open a bar or restaurant in Bangkok, you can expect for the local police commander asking for $500/month. “Why?” a business owner asked. “In case you do something illegal.” “What if I’m not doing anything illegal?” “Better to pay.” “I’m not paying.” We’ll see how this plays itself out. Should you want to stay open late, the first…
Lakewood Coffee-Shop Ambush
The good people at policeone.com have posted a, in-depth video about last year’s Lakewood Four coffee-shop ambush. The video tells the story from the perspective of the responding officers. BLUtube is powered by PoliceOne.com [I’m on vacation; life is good. While I’m gone, I’ve pre-scheduled a few posts.]
RIP William H. Torbit Jr.
Officer Torbit’s funeral was yesterday. It must have been painful. Meanwhile on Tuesday night, another officer, a homicide detective, was shot. What a friggin’ job. I’ll be back in the U.S. in a week. Everything seems very distant from here in Bangkok.
Happy MLK Jr. Day!
I guess I’m a day late and a dollar short. I didn’t actually know it was MLK Day (but hell, I’m in Thailand). But happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to everybody. Seriously. Some mock this holiday, but not me. Not only is it good to have more holidays in general and particularly in the dark days of January and…
Then and Now: Detroit
Amazingly for Detroit, this building is stills standing: Mind you, nothing around it is. [I’m on vacation; life is good. While I’m gone, I’ve scheduled some non-timely non-police filler posts.]
Tragedy in Baltimore
Plain clothed friendly fire police shooting. [please don’t post stupid or disrespectful comments, or respond to those who do.]
Then and Now: Fall River (II)
Another one from Fall River. This one isn’t so bad. At least the bank building is still standing. Of course pretty much everything that has changed is not a change for the better. Notice, if you zoom on the old picture (best to go to the Shorpy site for this), you can see in front of the Fall River Electric…
Breakfast in Bangkok
So off the main road you make a right at the train track next to the highway and walk down the tracks a short distance to the first food stand and get a papaya salad. There’s a bunch of cops sitting at one table eating and drinking. I befriend them and ask for a picture with them. They happily agree…
Less Prison, Less Crime
Newt Gingrich and Pat Nolan in the Washington Post on the need for less prison. We urge conservative legislators to lead the way in addressing an issue often considered off-limits to reform: prisons.