Snitching: This is how it works. This is a classic case of how cops twist people into doing their will. Naive young kid in trouble with the law. Scared. He’s maybe not the brightest bulb (though he may think he is). Cops “befriend” him and magically make his “crime” go away. Cops pay him — quite a lot for a part-time job for a kid. He’s so eager to “earn” the money and please his handlers that he persuades himself that he’s a “hero.” SO eager to please that he starts twisting and exaggerating the “evidence.” Classic. Absolutely. Except that…
Category: Official thuggery, bad prosecutions, and bad law
There was some cheering on the Intertubz when the TSA announced it was removing those infamous Rape-o-scanners from airports. Okay, muted cheering. Very. Muted. Cheering. Europe banned the Rape-o-Scans earlier this year and this was just the TSA’s belated acknowledgement of what everybody else already knew: that the x-ray scanners are potentially dangerous, ludicrously prone to false alerts, and offensive as all get out. Um, well, not exactly. They say it’s solely because the machines were slowing up their probing, poking, and stealing. So, did they send them back to Rapiscan and demand a refund? Is anybody investigating Michael Chertoff’s…
Obama staffer: vote early and often. (H/T O) Those prescription drugs in your emergency kit might last longer than you think. Maybe decades longer. (I’d be cautious, though, especially with antibiotics.) Why is the Taliban so scared of little girls? And why are Muslim leaders always so quiet about monstrous acts like this? So, Barack, you wanna debate civil liberties? Why do Ashkenazi Jews tend to have such high IQs? Interesting speculations. I’ve been having trouble getting around to several things, including a review of Wendy McElroy’s new book, The Art of Living Free. So just let me say a…
From the BBC (and C^2): Apps that protect against police brutality. Money quote: “The cops aren’t protecting us [understatement] so we have to figure out ways to protect ourselves.” We’ve touched on this before. But in light of this morning’s first post, here’s something we can do that’s not difficult, but that goes well beyond a saucy gesture or angry keyboard pounding.
Funny how we’ve been assured for the last century or so that fingerprints are infallible evidence. (Tip o’ hat to Jim Bovard) Do bike helmet laws indirectly do more harm than good? Handy Helpful Hints … on growing cannabis. (Via Brad Spangler’s Twitter feed) Are you doing your bit to be sufficiently “suspicious” to the homeland (achtung!) security state? C’mon, it isn’t that difficult (as John Silveira predicted years ago). (H/T O) Hm. Wonder if this’ll worry that pack of paranoids? Slave ants rebel and destroy the young of their oppressors. (Via the very nice and mild-mannered JG) Hey, at…
Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Obama. We eat this stuff??? Occasionally, there is justice of a sort after a puppycide. But no real justice until the cops know they’ll have to pay personally. Otherwise, it’s just more of the usual from thugs, cowards, and incompetents. Gold bars salted with tungsten: not just a paranoid rumor any more. Beloved service dog Bingo Hein has died, leaving a legacy of giving. J.D. Tuccille takes apart that report on the angelic innocence of Eric Holder. Or at least the media coverage of it.
Help save the Buckyballs! No, not the molecule. Last I heard that needed no saving. I’m talking about the nerdy magnetic executive toy. The fedgov is trying to ban it because … erm, people might feed it to their children? The company has repeatedly challenged Scott Wolfson, communications director of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, to debate Buckyballs CEO Craig Zucker live on TV. Mr. Wolfson having ignored the challenge, Zucker is now offering to defeat Wolfson in an arm-wrestling contest. (H/T S)
Great anti-drone ad from the New York Civil Liberties Union. And speaking of the (many) reasons not to give trust or power to police … if the eye-witness account is true (something that might be confirmed by a necropsy on the dead dog), this cop should never walk among civilized beings again. This really deserves a blog post of its own, but I couldn’t stand to write it. Beware: this makes the standard cop-puppycide case look loving by comparison. (H/T Wendy McElroy) Let’s change the subject and do some badly needed lightening up. Here’s a quiz for you: Which politicians…