The death of a Nassau County police officer got me thinking about cases of police officers shot by other cops. There’s the belief out there that black officers are much more at risk of being mistaken for suspects than are white officers. It’s also been said (by me?) that such accidental mistaken-identity shootings almost never…
Read more
Nassau County Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf was killed in case of mistaken identity. In Brooklyn, NYPD Officer Alain Schaberger was killed trying to arrest a violent man, who pushed him over a stoop railing. “Mr. Villanueva had been arrested at least three times on charges of domestic violence against the same woman he was accused of…
Read more
“Nuclear facilities in Japan … were built to withstand earthquakes — but not an 8.9 earthquake.” What?! And why not? It’s not like such big earthquakes have never happened before. The idea that nuclear plants (and waste) need to be kept safe FOREVER seems to be the fatal flaw of the pro-nuclear position. Hubris, people.…
Read more
I love NPR. And if I didn’t live in a big city, I’d be more passionate about cutting federal support for what is truly an essential public service in small-town and rural American (public radio is essential here in New York City, too–but it would survive just OK without federal funding). This is from Glen…
Read more
I guess those recent congressional hearings did some good. I mean, just a few days after being inspired to focus on radicalized Muslim youth, law enforcement goes out and breaks up a real terrorist plot. According the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, five people were arrested for allegedly conspiring to kill multiple Alaska State Troopers and a…
Read more
Or why we don’t need to and shouldn’t cut spending. Let’s compare at “programs at risk” and “tax breaks for the wealthy”: I can’t vouch for the numbers, but they seem reasonable.
I just read in the New York Times that kids are using Facebook! But Facebook says you’re supposed to be, like, 13. So, some kids are even [gulp] lying about their age! Says one concerned person: “It’s lying — and about age,” Ms. Kaune said. “What happens when they want to drink beer?” Uh, last…
Read more
From Tom Scocca at Slate. The column is actually about the debt and David Brooks. Scocca questions whether the debt is really “the” central moral challenge of our time: “Maybe I was distracted and missed the day we let all the young black men back out of prison. (How are they doing? They must feel…
Read more
David Simon on Snoop’s Arrest from the Baltimore Sun: What follows is a personal statement from David Simon, Creator and Executive Producer of “The Wire” (and currently in production on “Treme”). First of all, Felicia’s entitled to the presumption of innocence. And I would note that a previous, but recent drug arrest that targeted her…
Read more
I got the design for the book cover for In Defense of Flogging. That’s always kind of an exciting moment. I like it. And the front and back flaps: The book will be out June 1. You can pre-order on Amazon, if you’re so inclined.