While in Rwanda, as we entered some place, the underside of our car was getting “mirrored” by some old guy with a mirror on a stick. I rolled my eyes and said to my friends: “Like he was any clue what a bomb looks like. This is just what we call in America ‘security theater.’” My friend pulled out his…
Justin Freeman in Slate well answers this question. The short answer: “Because they have different priorities than you do.” Note this a related but different question than “Why are cops such assholes?” No doubt soon this psychoanalysis of negative police traits will be done.
The National Police Week 5K Run is coming up and hell no I won’t be running. But a friend of mine is and looking for a running partner. She posted this on facebook. I think it’s sweet and serves as a good reminder as to how good police can be when they’re not sitting alone in a car, in an…
…Science never is. On the plus side, science can improve on its errors. From the New York Times: “If we say there is a 1-in-10-quadrillion chance that someone else might have the same DNA profile, but there is also a 1-in-10,000 chance that there was a mistake in generating the profile, the only number the jurors should be paying attention…
Life imitates art, after art imitated life. In the Baltimore Sun: “arksdale, ‘Wire’ inspiration, pleads guilty in drug case”
It’s not about police, but my piece in City Limits just came out: “Arguments Against Rent Regs are Vacant of Facts — Some say New York could relieve high rents by removing rent regulations. And other people say the world is flat.”
I’m back. It’s cold. Rwanda was great, Addis Ababa interesting, and Bangkok was as nice as always. Stop 1: Rwanda If you don’t know Rwanda (and we didn’t), you wouldn’t know what to expect. I knew nothing about Rwanda except for a history of genocide, the Iwawa Island reform school (not, I should point out, a prison), a ban on…
I won’t be posting for a few weeks because the missus and I are off on adventures to Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Bangkok. Why those countries? Well, not that it’s your business, but two years ago I befriended a Rwandan police officer when I was a visiting scholar at the National Police College in England. So why not? And I’ve always…
Murder in Baltimore is at a four-year high. Murder in New York City is at a record low. Meanwhile, from Justin Fenton’s Baltimore Sun article, in other cities: Homicides across the country Oakland, Calif. — down 25 percent (as of Dec. 12) Philadelphia — down 24 percent (as of Dec. 16) Flint, Mich. — down 22 percent (as of Dec.…
From CNN: “‘Duck Dynasty’ resuming ‘with the entire Robertson family,’ including Phil.” It’s only a victory for free speech if you don’t like the speech. Seriously. And now I really want to start watching the show.