Harry Moskos–journalist and streetcar advocate (also my uncle)–writes in the Albuquerque Journal, “Obama’s Birthers Should Check Out My Daughters’ Papers.” Our two daughters, like Obama, were born in Honolulu. We lived in Hawaii from 1963 to 1969. … Obama was born at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children, the same hospital where our daughters…
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Am I really the only person who is skeptical enough to check the basic truth of emails before forwarding them to my 140 closest friends? I mean, it doesn’t take too long to go to Snopes The thing about mass-forwarded right-wing emails is that they are almost always never true. They’re like the headlines in…
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A good article by Ben Nuckols about crime in Baltimore and the good things happening under Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld. In a blighted west Baltimore neighborhood, Lt. Ian Dombroski turns his unmarked police car around a corner and sees several men standing outside a liquor store. They scatter immediately. Dombroski knows they’re probably selling drugs,…
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Ninety percent of those stopped by the NYPD are black and latino. So says the New York Times. Is this a cause for concern? I don’t know. Something certainly bothers me when my male black and hispanic students complain of being stopped by the police often (and often rudely stopped). But there is one touchy…
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In 2007, Mexican and US drug agents raided a home in Mexico City. Over $200,000,000 in cash was found. Lot’s of other stuff, too. Like tigers and gold guns! It’s pretty impressive. I put the pictures in a PDF file. It’s not recent, but I just got an email with the pictures from a student.…
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The story in the Sun. The guys who attacked him, in what seems to be a case of road rage, were quick to drop the N-Bomb and talk about hanging Detective Cook, who is black. For just being cut in the eye, give Cook credit for being calm on professional on the phone. Officers move…
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A reader pointed me to this story in New York’s Village Voice. In the 81st Precinct in New York City, a cop, Schoolcraft, secretly recorded roll call and other happenings over the course of the year. Bold. Though all he seems to show is something we all should already know. In the NYPD, everybody is…
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Damn Yankees. The Orioles lost. It was kind of a mismatch. But the O’s did at least make things interesting by getting the tying runs on base in the 9th. There was some minor scuffle near me that resulted in many crying children. Oh, nothing like the bleachers in Yankee Stadium to make me want…
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I’m not a big fan of crowds. Mobs do stupid things–both intentionally and through panic. I always like having an out. Interestingly, I’ve always felt a little more claustrophobic in Dutch crowds. I think they’re used to less personal space so they get tighter together (which is also a sign of their general civility). The…
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I don’t think I’ve ever used that headline before. I don’t like Tasers, generally. But if you run from police and can’t be easily caught? I got no problem. It’s tasing in situations of unarmed passive non-compliance that I strongly object to. I’m going to the Yankee game tomorrow. Go O’s!