A person who can't lead and won't follow makes a dandy roadblock.
Author unknown
Image of the Day
Innovative Shoes That Grow With Kids
No doubt Big Shoesellers would resist the annual sales loss to the annual juvenile shoe market...
Anti-Competitive Dental Service Minimum Prices in Arkansas
The Murder of Walter Scott in North Charleston, SC
This one hits a little too close to home after moving from West Virginia a few weeks back. After writing several protest comments in the wake of the Eric Garner death over the alleged sales of loose cigarettes, I found myself counter-attacked by law-and-order populists, who despite the video evidence of a man who clearly did not threaten surrounding cops was jumped from behind by a cop who maintained a grip over Garner's throat, which made it difficult for the overweight man to breathe and did not relinquish the hold until Garner was unconscious. (Garner never regained consciousness and soon thereafter died, which the medical examiner attributed primarily to the choke hold and pressure on Garner's lungs while he was on the ground; Garner's obesity and asthma contributed to the fatality as factors (but were not causative). I was nauseated by the populists who all but wrote that Garner had sacrificed his right to live by arguing with the police over allegations of selling loosies.)
This story has been in the headlines over the past 2 weeks. It's very troubling--a young Causasian officer firing 8 shots from short range at the back of an unarmed 50-year-old man of color, hitting him 5 times, who had been stopped over a nonfunctioning third brake light. "The use of deadly force by law enforcement in the United States is subject to the 1985 Tennessee v. Garner decision, which ruled that when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, he or she may not use deadly force to prevent escape unless "the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others"." It appears that the victim had already been Tasered by the officer in question, and the officer may have dropped his Taser near the victim to rationalize a threat to his safety posed by Scott and thus his use of deadly force. This is absolutely crazy; no one should lose his life over a busted brake light (or selling individual cigarettes). The officer has been terminated and charged with murder; he is due his day in court. I know this incident is not representative of the vast majority of police officers nationwide; in fact, my oldest nephew is an officer. But I don't want to hear any police unions excusing these kinds of deadly force incidents; I think it undermines the trust, integrity and professionalism in and of police when the "bad apples" are excused or when nonviolent citizens are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
Facebook Corner
(National Review). "She’s judging you and me and every other normal person who has ever purchased ramen by the pound to save money." -- Michelle Malkin
Let's see her live on the Michelle Obama school lunch program for 9 months...
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of Erric Allie via IPI |
 |
| Courtesy of Bob Gorrell via Townhall |
Olivia Newton-John, "If Not For You". A Bob Dylan cover and her breakthrough #1 on the A/C chart. I think she was initially pushed as a country singer (and several of her hit tunes did hit top 10 country in the 70's), but she would go on to a string of A/C #1's in 1974-76 and a handful of #1's on the Hot 100.
