Police As Military in Post-Racial America

If a police officer sees himself as a soldier, does he start searching for his own personal enemy combatants, even if there aren't any to be found...in broad daylight....in the middle of the street?

Reading about the sad death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri leads to lots of other online destinations, but I found this tumblr especially poignant and depressing. David Simon's Two Baltimores, John Edwards' (can we still mention him?) Two Americas, Obama's post-racial USA; only one is a seemingly mythical destination. And despite progress, it could continue for quite some time. We seem caught at the intersection of our own (economic, racial, religious, pick one or more) self-segregation, our easy comfort with violence, and our baffling acquiescence to any and all authority.

Taibbi's Take on UC Davis

The whole post is worth reading, but Matt is as succinct and as eloquent as ever:

These people are weak and pathetic, and they’re getting weaker. And boy, are they showing it. Way to gear up with combat helmets and the submachine guns, fellas, to take on a bunch of co-eds sitting Indian-style on a campus quad. Maybe after work you can go break up a game of duck-duck-goose at the local Chuck E Cheese. I’d bring the APC for that one.

I should know better by now, but it still surprises me that those who decried this during Bush/Cheney have been all too quiet about the continuation - even expansion - of these policies under Obama. A sign of the times. Politics(winning) at all costs. My guy can do no wrong, the other side's is evil incarnate.

TSA Enters Fondling Business

The bad news is that if you don't want to be irradiated, or have your privacy invaded, by the TSA's new full-body scanners, soon you can get groped by a TSA "officer". The good news is, there aren't any additional fees or taxes associated with this! At least for now.

http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/tsa-experimenting-with-enhanced-patdowns.html?id=5396474&source=dealalert_test_b&value=2010-08-25+00:00:00&u=3E91EFB00D

I wonder whether the TSA will publish some guidance about how to tip your TSA officer for exceptional service. Slide the singles into his/her badge holder? The belt? In your belt or waistband (if they're any good at all, they'll find them!). And what happens if you opt for this perk in the middle of a raging erection? Will they wave you through the line, or would that provoke the Defenders Of Our Skies to take you into a back room and beat it out of you? Inquiring minds want to know!

Tasering for Everyone!

OK, this Florida student may have been acting like an idiot as he tried to ask John Kerry a question, but what was wrong with cutting off his mic and just ending the forum? No, the thugs in the police uniforms decide to forcibly escort him away, then end up tasering him.

Living in Baltimore, I know the value of a good police force, but terrible decision-making on the part of police, like this incident and many more like it, just end up doing damage to law-enforcement. These incidents may be rare, but they almost always make the news, like D.C. Metro cops arresting a 12-year old years ago (crime: eating French fries on the subway). Then there are the popular zero-tolerance, quality-of-life arrests, as popularized by Rudy in New York. Do those approaches work? Hard to say. They likely tamp down some of the petty crime, but the suspicions of police that they engender probably contribute to fewer jury convictions, even for the most serious crimes. Throw in witness intimidation, the stop snitching "code" that so many fine Baltimorons honor, underfunding of police, lowering standards to attract new recruits, and law-enforcement is a big mess.

And what's with tasers, anyway? They've at least contributed to quite a few deaths since they were adopted by police; can't the geniuses employed by the military-industrial complex come up with something better?

Police Report for August 4, 2007

Yes, we saw the Police in concert again! This time at the Virgin Music Festival at Pimlico this past weekend. They played almost the exact same set as in PA, minus two songs, but it was still exhilarating, mostly because we were so close to the stage - anywhere from 100 feet back towards the start of the show to 50 feet away when they closed with a single-song second encore of Next To You. I even have some photos, although most are at least a bit blurry and/or grainy; the event organizers stated pretty clearly no cameras with changeable lenses, so that meant no Nikon D50 for us (we still saw a handful of people walking around with DSLRs though, so I guess it wasn't a well-enforced rule); instead, we took our old eBay-purchased Sony, with its 3x zoom. Eh, better than nothing, but it's hard to take a decent photo from even that close, when you have to hold the camera over your head to shoot above the crowd, plus there's the standard digital camera shutter delay to contend with.

We were able to get right up front because the Beastie Boys were on before the Police, and about a third of their fans emptied out - their loss was our gain! We were packed in pretty tight, at the end of a long, hot, humid, dusty day - it was a blast! We were close enough to see the few looks of disgust on Sting's face when they messed up song intros (Sting's fault once, Stewart's another time, although can the drummer ever really be wrong when it comes to timing?), and to read some of the text on Andy's guitar strap - "Oh My God, You Killed Kenny!" - seriously, that's what it was. Otherwise, not a lot of difference from the last show; as Jenny pointed out, unfortunately Andy's kick-ass solo for Walking In Your Foosteps was severely abbreviated, and one of the songs they didn't play that they played in Hershey was one of my favorites, The Bed's Too Big Without You. But I thought Driven To Tears sounded tighter, and I appreciated being able to fully enjoy another favorite, Synchronicity II, without also searching for our seats, as we had to do in PA.

Other bands, bah who cares. But here's a quick rundown anyway:

1. LCD Soundsystem - easily the best act we saw all day, other than the Police. These guys are aggressive, loud, energetic, and maybe a bit crazy.
2. Peter Bjorn and John (PB&J) - rock/pop from Sweden, songs themselves are hit-and-miss in terms of the writing, but another fun performance.
3. Amy Winehouse - great voice, outstanding band, too bad she mailed it in, either due to the heat or b/c she was high, not sure which. Plus, she really needs to eat something.
   
4. Beastie Boys - caught the second half of their set, not my kind of music but they're funny guys and great performers.
5. Cheap Trick - maybe a bit too old for this crowd? Robin Zander can still sing, they were OK on the whole.
6. Danny Tenaglia (DJ) - fun guy, good performer, eschews the 'DJ-as-cooler-than-you-stoic' stage persona.
7. Sasha and John Digweed (DJs) - yawn.

We also saw the billionaire himself, Richard Branson, around mid-day. He really puts together a well-organized festival, and his emphasis on environmentalism and community service isn't just lip service; half the festival ground was filled with various service organization and NGO booths, and every trash-disposal area was staffed by a person who made sure that garbage was sorted correctly [landfill, compost, or recycling].

[Update: I just uploaded a very short video (0:15) of the first few lines of Roxanne. It doesn't sound all that horrendous, a lot better than I thought it would anyway, considering it's a still camera in MPEG movie mode. It's so short because it's on the highest-quality setting, and that's as big as the buffer gets at that setting.]

Police Report for July 20, 2007

I didn't think it possible, but the Police - in concert!!! - actually exceeded my expectations. All 3 of them sounded fantastic. They sounded like they just picked up right where they left off, like the Synchronicity tour was a few months ago and this was just the next leg.

Gordon's (aka Sting's - we're close, so I can call him Gordon) vocals were pretty damn good, even on the high notes (still!). He broke out some kind of pan flute for the beginning of Walking in Your Footsteps, but other than that just stuck with the bass, which had a very heavy sound - I guess that's what's required of their catalog, when the melody is so often in the bass line?

Andy Summers (the guitarist) really shines in concert, much more so than on the studio tracks, because he has so much more latitude. His solos are more elaborate, and he's not just relegated to playing rhythm guitar on ska- or reggae-beat songs.

Stewart Copeland is the Greatest Drummer in the History of Rock. Period. I don't know what else to say. I know Sting writes the songs, but I don't know where the Police would be, how well-defined their sound would be, without Stewart. He was simply awesome. His drum kit was massive, and then he had an additional array of percussion instruments (half of which I couldn't name, but which did include timpani, steel drums, a huge gong, and all sorts of chime and cymbal-type thingees) upon which he also kicked much ass.

Highlights - the quite-enthusiastic crowd reaction to Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (evidently a fan favorite), the percussion work on Wrapped Around Your Finger, and the overall massive arena-rock sound of two of the encore numbers, So Lonely and King of Pain.

I can't believe that we get to see them again in a few weeks. We're not worthy!!

[Edit: Here's a review of the show from the Sun music critic, Rashod Ollison.]

A Tale of Two Weekends

First, the Bad: Taking 3.5-to-4 hours to drive the 90 miles from Baltimore to Hershey, PA for the Police show. Jenny having to go into the office both Saturday and Sunday. The HP critical BIOS update that killed the motherboard (I'm finished with buying computers, I'll just build my own from now on unless it's a laptop; fewer headaches, believe it or not). Me wasting time on a beautiful day on Saturday on the fool's errand of trying to recover the BIOS.

Ah, but there was Good: The Police, LIVE! - review forthcoming. Cal's whiskey-tasting event, which was much fun. The weather, which didn't suck, for once.

A Scrimmage?!?

So the Police might not end up playing Baltimore because of a Ravens/Redskins scrimmage? That's just not right. Who gives a shit about an NFL scrimmage anyway? You know, I was starting to come around on the Ravens, since Modell sold the team and Ray Lewis hasn't killed anyone recently, but this is simply unacceptable. And to the Baltimore Sun - your cute headline referencing Roxanne? Gimme a break. Whoever wrote that headline should be fired.

Quality Sunday Night TV

First, from 5 to 7, the Terps captured an all-to-easy "must-win" against their arch-rivals.

Then, while I was waiting for the evening's main event, I caught a bit of 60 Minutes - just my opinion, and I know it's early, but I have a difficult time picturing an '08 Democratic ticket without Obama somewhere on it. And did anyone else know that Ravi Shankar is Norah Jones' father?!?

Then, the Police opened the Grammys with Roxanne. Awesome. They have a press conference scheduled for 11 PT today; it's assumed that they'll be announcing their 30th anniversary reunion tour! Now, I'm sure there's a ticket price that I wouldn't be willing to pay to see them in concert, but I think I'll wait and see what tickets cost before deciding on that price...