Tag Archives: corruption

LAWBI #67: Cops on Camera

I can’t remember the last time we went a solid week without a news story chronicling an unfortunate collision of cops and cameras. Every time I scan my feeds, there’s either a think piece on the legality of American citizens recording the police in public, or a specific report in which a confrontation between officers and a smartphone-wielding bystander turns either ugly or tragic.

Let’s set aside for a moment that A) recording the possible misconduct of a public servant occurring in public is not only perfectly justifiable but to be encouraged; B) the police must be held to a higher standard than most other citizens and “policed” accordingly; and C) making the recording of police officers doing their jobs in public illegal will do absolutely nothing to deter the practice. Let’s instead focus on the question each new story inspires in my mind:

Knowing at least half the people on the streets have a video camera in their pockets, why the fuck do some police officers continue to not only use excessive force, but also to accost, threaten and even assault the people capturing it — in front of other people, and other cameras?

Read the rest at Creative Loafing

(image via truthout.org)

Attention Wishy-Washy Social Progressives

 

Are you one of those people who still go to Walmart, and hate themselves for it? Are you all like, “yeah, they’re evil and all, but they’re also really cheap and RIGHT THERE and that’s the way the world of physical retail is going, anyway”?

Are you, in short, somebody for whom Walmart just hasn’t been quite evil enough to precipitate cutting the cord completely?

Actually, they have been–here you go.

For Immediate Release: The Spin Doctor Is In

I have chosen this particular medium–my personal blog, trafficked by tens of readers completely uninterested in politics–to announce my availability as a freelance political fixer.

Am I connected? No, I am not. I am totally unknown in the political environment, where “connected” means “I can and will tell other power players about your feather fetish when I’m loaded.”

Politicians, you do not need “connected.” You need anonymity, and journalistic experience, and some understanding of both irony and the way popular culture works. You also need ideas, because, let’s face it, you made a decision to enter the world of politics, which indicates at least a modicum of developmental disability.

I can provide creative and effective solutions to any public official’s PR crisis, because A) I have extensive experience gauging public perceptions, and positioning various events to harmonize with those perceptions; B) I possess an outsider’s viewpoint, closer to that of the general public than any insider’s detached and distorted vantage; and C) I’m tired of being neutral and poor, and would like to take a crack at being evil and affluent for a few years, before paper money goes back to being something you lay on top of the cornbread and cut around to make sure every leper gets the same portion.

My resume? Fuck you, that’s my resume.

But here are a couple of examples of my manipulative prowess: Continue reading

On the Government Shutdown

It’s simple, really: This is a direct and inevitable result of Congress actively aiding the concentration of wealth in an upper echelon of the market that doesn’t redistribute, and BARELY PAYS ANY FUCKING TAXES.
Nice job, jackasses. Are you still so happy you were able to push all those favors through?

Posted from my Googlized pocket robot.