I have been following the local blogosphere for a while now and getting a kick out of the variety of subjects and opinions offered there. I have a listing of over 2,500 local blogs, most of which are no longer active or never were very active to begin with. But those which are active have a lot to say.
What I find ironic about bloggers is that what prompts many of them to begin blogging in the first place is that they are attempting to counter what they perceive to be an unfair media bias of some type. Some think "The Media" is too far to the left, others think it is too far to the right. And the irony is that bloggers often attempt to correct this imbalance by posting their own equally skewd views of the opposite opinion.
The reality is that every source of information (whether professional media or amateur bloggers) likely has some degree of bias. And that is why intelligent consumers of information should strive to read a variety of sources. But for many bloggers this does not seem to be the case. You can often see strong evidence of this simply by reading the blogroles. The lefties link to other lefties, and the righties link to other righties. Of course, there are many exceptions to this general rule, but most bloggers I know of do practice some type of exclusionary policy.
Now I firmly believe in the adage "My blog, my rules" so I am not saying that practicing exclusionary tactics on one's blog is unfair. What I am saying is that if we (bloggers as a group) simply counter the professional media bias with our own personal brand of bias, then we really don't have anything that is unique to offer (as compared to traditional media, as a whole.)
But I think we do have something unique to offer, if we are able to look past our own egos for a short while. If we really do feel that our ideas are worthy of serious discussion, then shouldn't we allow them to be tested against the ideas of others - without exclusion?
In furtherance of this goal, I present to you here a comprehensive list of all the local, active blogs that I am aware of. I have attempted to include every local blog that has posted in the past few months. This list is provided without exclusion, regardless of topic or style.
The Full Spectrum
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring has Sprung!
Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted here. My lack of blogging activity has been largely due to the fact that I have been preoccupied with other personal matters. Of course, the bad weather subdued the drug activities to a large degree, but activities have started to pick up again during the past month or so.
There are still several of the regular players hanging around, but they are not the noisy ones. Of the four guys who made the most noise last year, one is in prison (for selling narcotics and assaulting an officer) and another is dead. A third one seems to have left the area shortly after the police questioned him about his possible role in a murder that took place last year. I don't know where the fourth guy is, but I haven't seen him around here for several months.
All four of these guys were relatively young, and that is a big part of the problem. First of all, young people are just more likely to be rude, arrogant and inconsiderate of anybody besides themselves. Granted, this is not always intentional, just the natural result of excess hormones. I have actually had many conversations with some of these young guys over the years and when they actually come to realize how offensive their behavior is they straighten up a bit.
There is another problem that is largely associated with the young guys, although all do not fit into this pattern of behavior. What seems to be the case here is that many of the young guys are too scared to stand on the corners alone. Each year they invite some of their friends to come over and play. Apparently they think this will reduce the possibility of them either getting arrested or of getting attacked by another drug dealer.
Well, it's true that there is strength in numbers, but only until those numbers become so large that a critical mass is acheived. At that point the strength becomes a weakness, and here's how it works. The new guys are not from this neighborhood, so they are at somewhat of a disadvantage. In the beginning, they have to rely quite a bit upon the support of their host drug dealer. After a while though they learn their way around the block, establishing their own independent relations with other dealers and feeling more secure in working outside of the direct guidance of their original host. Eventually, things turn and the new guys actually start competing with their (now) former host. And this is where things get messy.
I have lived here for over thirteen years now and I know most of the established players pretty well. The older guys know what it takes to push me to the point where I'll call the police or take action myself, and they realize that agitating me is a detriment to their economic vitality. Even the younger guys who reside here (and like to press my buttons ocassionally) see that I often have good relations with their parents, grandparents and the older dealers and thus afford me a certain degree of respect because of this.
But the new guys who appear each year are different. First of all, they are usually pretty young, which means they want to test me themselves rather than relying on stories told by others. But an even more important factor is the fact that many of them do not live here or have close family living here. The dealers who live here realize this racket is worth protecting, and they are not above being polite to the grouchy guy who calls the police on them - so long as it furthers their interests. The other guys are just visitors though and they simply don't give a damn.
I have learned from the past that I need to pay close attention early in the year to establish who the new key players will be for the season. I have seen a few unknowns hanging around a bit, but this is usually infrequent and short-lived. I have also noticed that many police officers continue to be very vigilant about patrolling this area, and that is helpful. I have established personal communication with a few officers by now. While the ones at the top (who spend most of their time setting at a desk) still seem oblivious to the problems, at least knowing (and being known by) some of the officers who actually work for a living is a lot better than what I've had in years past.
At this point, it is far too early to speculate about what 2009 will have to offer, either from the drug dealers or from the police. Any time I have offered an optimistic opinion in the past it is quickly proven wrong. All I can do is go about my business and hope that eventually this will be just a neighborhood where a few drugs are sold - rather than a neighborhood that is actually controlled by the drug dealers.
All the drama here has been trying on me at times, and I can sense that it has caused permanent changes to both my mental and physical state of being. I am still firm in my conviction that I will not be forcibly evicted from my home by agressive drug dealers and a reticent police department. However, I am not at all opposed to a negotiated settlement. Late last year, I approached one of the main dealers here and told him that I would be glad to sell my house, if any person(s) were willing to make a decent offer.
This guy knows all the players in this neighborhood, so I thought he might be able to help arrange a deal. I have also have had a lot of interaction with this guy in the past, so I was certain he understood that I was not trying to bargain from a position of weakness. Unfortunately, he never came back with an offer, so I guess I'm here to stay. And if that's the case, I might as well enjoy it.
I have a big slate of projects line up already to keep me busy this summer. I had twenty tons of gravel delivered last week, and I am setting up forms for several concrete projects. I plan to fence in the back yard and maybe get a couple of dogs to run around there. I might buy another gun or two also, and maybe plant a garden.
Of course, if history is any indicator, then what I have planned for this year and what I actually get are two completely different things.
There are still several of the regular players hanging around, but they are not the noisy ones. Of the four guys who made the most noise last year, one is in prison (for selling narcotics and assaulting an officer) and another is dead. A third one seems to have left the area shortly after the police questioned him about his possible role in a murder that took place last year. I don't know where the fourth guy is, but I haven't seen him around here for several months.
All four of these guys were relatively young, and that is a big part of the problem. First of all, young people are just more likely to be rude, arrogant and inconsiderate of anybody besides themselves. Granted, this is not always intentional, just the natural result of excess hormones. I have actually had many conversations with some of these young guys over the years and when they actually come to realize how offensive their behavior is they straighten up a bit.
There is another problem that is largely associated with the young guys, although all do not fit into this pattern of behavior. What seems to be the case here is that many of the young guys are too scared to stand on the corners alone. Each year they invite some of their friends to come over and play. Apparently they think this will reduce the possibility of them either getting arrested or of getting attacked by another drug dealer.
Well, it's true that there is strength in numbers, but only until those numbers become so large that a critical mass is acheived. At that point the strength becomes a weakness, and here's how it works. The new guys are not from this neighborhood, so they are at somewhat of a disadvantage. In the beginning, they have to rely quite a bit upon the support of their host drug dealer. After a while though they learn their way around the block, establishing their own independent relations with other dealers and feeling more secure in working outside of the direct guidance of their original host. Eventually, things turn and the new guys actually start competing with their (now) former host. And this is where things get messy.
I have lived here for over thirteen years now and I know most of the established players pretty well. The older guys know what it takes to push me to the point where I'll call the police or take action myself, and they realize that agitating me is a detriment to their economic vitality. Even the younger guys who reside here (and like to press my buttons ocassionally) see that I often have good relations with their parents, grandparents and the older dealers and thus afford me a certain degree of respect because of this.
But the new guys who appear each year are different. First of all, they are usually pretty young, which means they want to test me themselves rather than relying on stories told by others. But an even more important factor is the fact that many of them do not live here or have close family living here. The dealers who live here realize this racket is worth protecting, and they are not above being polite to the grouchy guy who calls the police on them - so long as it furthers their interests. The other guys are just visitors though and they simply don't give a damn.
I have learned from the past that I need to pay close attention early in the year to establish who the new key players will be for the season. I have seen a few unknowns hanging around a bit, but this is usually infrequent and short-lived. I have also noticed that many police officers continue to be very vigilant about patrolling this area, and that is helpful. I have established personal communication with a few officers by now. While the ones at the top (who spend most of their time setting at a desk) still seem oblivious to the problems, at least knowing (and being known by) some of the officers who actually work for a living is a lot better than what I've had in years past.
At this point, it is far too early to speculate about what 2009 will have to offer, either from the drug dealers or from the police. Any time I have offered an optimistic opinion in the past it is quickly proven wrong. All I can do is go about my business and hope that eventually this will be just a neighborhood where a few drugs are sold - rather than a neighborhood that is actually controlled by the drug dealers.
All the drama here has been trying on me at times, and I can sense that it has caused permanent changes to both my mental and physical state of being. I am still firm in my conviction that I will not be forcibly evicted from my home by agressive drug dealers and a reticent police department. However, I am not at all opposed to a negotiated settlement. Late last year, I approached one of the main dealers here and told him that I would be glad to sell my house, if any person(s) were willing to make a decent offer.
This guy knows all the players in this neighborhood, so I thought he might be able to help arrange a deal. I have also have had a lot of interaction with this guy in the past, so I was certain he understood that I was not trying to bargain from a position of weakness. Unfortunately, he never came back with an offer, so I guess I'm here to stay. And if that's the case, I might as well enjoy it.
I have a big slate of projects line up already to keep me busy this summer. I had twenty tons of gravel delivered last week, and I am setting up forms for several concrete projects. I plan to fence in the back yard and maybe get a couple of dogs to run around there. I might buy another gun or two also, and maybe plant a garden.
Of course, if history is any indicator, then what I have planned for this year and what I actually get are two completely different things.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Flying Caribou and Yellow Zebras
I haven’t had time to make a decent post here in a while, but just thought I’d pass on this from another local blogger. The point is to create a poem with twenty six words. Each word must start with a different letter of the alphabet and they must be used in alphabetical order. I think with such strict requirements, it’s okay if a lot of it really doesn’t make sense. It’s just a fun exercise in word usage. I left one Poem on that site, and here’s a second one I came up with. - Note the exception to the rule for the use of the X word.
My a-to-z poem: “Flying Caribou and Yellow Zebras”
Atheist Believe Caribou Don’t Ever Fly.
God Hears Indians Jubilantly Kayaking.
Locals Mostly Nod Off.
Painting Quietly, Red Stained Totem-poles,
Unusually Vexed Wiccans eXclaim - Yellow Zebras!
My a-to-z poem: “Flying Caribou and Yellow Zebras”
Atheist Believe Caribou Don’t Ever Fly.
God Hears Indians Jubilantly Kayaking.
Locals Mostly Nod Off.
Painting Quietly, Red Stained Totem-poles,
Unusually Vexed Wiccans eXclaim - Yellow Zebras!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Dear Credit Card Company
Following is a letter that I recently sent to my creditors.
This letter was sent to all of my creditors, which includes JP Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Capital One Financial and Fifth Third Bancorp.
Dear Sir or Ma’am;
I am currently unable to pay my bills due to circumstances beyond my control. It seems my government keeps taxing me and printing out new money. The first action leaves me further in debt to my government (more accurately, to foreign governments), the second action devalues my current savings and income. I am simply unable to keep up and must therefore default on my payments until such time as the federal government decides to bail me out.
I do realize that my actions here will cause hardship for you. I sympathize with your circumstances and would like to offer a remedy. It is my understanding that the government is largely handing out my money to corporations who already have lot of money, and now they are being given even more. I seems to me that the opportunity exists for you to appeal to them for financial assistance.
A partial list of these corporations includes: JP Morgan, $25 Bil.; Citigroup, $25 Bil.; Wells Fargo, $25 Bil.; Bank of America, $15 Bil.; Bank of New York Mellon, $3 Bil.; Capital One Financial, $3.55 Bil.; Fifth Third Bancorp $3.45 Bil.
Sincerely, An American Taxpayer
This letter was sent to all of my creditors, which includes JP Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Capital One Financial and Fifth Third Bancorp.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Times are tough, and I don’t have a lot of money. I couldn’t even afford a Christmas tree this year, so I prayed for help. Ask and ye shall receive! God (or maybe it was Santa Clause) sent me not one but two trees a few nights ago. Seriously, they just magically dropped down from the sky. They just happened to land right on one of my favorite parking spots too, but I was parked in front at the time, so I guess someone really is looking after me.
Well, I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the gift, so I threw some garland and ornaments on to claim them as my Christmas trees. It looks real pretty when it’s lit up at night. Laugh all you want, but I didn’t pay a damn thing for them. And I’ll bet my trees have caused more people to smile than that one you’ve got hidden inside your house. Eat your heart out Charlie Brown. My tree is every bit as ugly as yours, but a whole lot bigger.
I was outside around nine in the morning when a large limb fell just to the north of me. It covered the street so precisely from curb to curb that it almost looked like it had been placed there. You’d think this would have completely stopped traffic, but a few cars (and at least one city bus) just drove on the sidewalk to bypass it.
A neighbor came over and asked if I’d help him move the branch out of the street. I told him I actually thought that having traffic slowed down here was a good thing, so I’d just leave it. He thought about what I said for a second then added that he saw my point and it sounded good to him.
About an hour later, two guys hooked a rope to it and pulled it out of the way (sort of.) They actually left it in one lane of the street and right along the side of my house. That pretty much finished blocking off the parking on the side of my house and I felt compelled to say something to them at first. But then I figured they were just trying to help, and there really was no good place to put it, so I just let it pass. I’m betting it will be after Christmas before the City gets around to clearing this road. Sure hope so, because I don’t plan to take the tree lights down until after that.
Well, I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the gift, so I threw some garland and ornaments on to claim them as my Christmas trees. It looks real pretty when it’s lit up at night. Laugh all you want, but I didn’t pay a damn thing for them. And I’ll bet my trees have caused more people to smile than that one you’ve got hidden inside your house. Eat your heart out Charlie Brown. My tree is every bit as ugly as yours, but a whole lot bigger.
The strange thing is that the trees hanging over the house look half dead, yet not a single limb fell there. But the trees on the side of the house appear to be young and healthy. Go figure - maybe someone really is looking out for me. We actually had quite a few limbs fall in this neighborhood, but as far as I can see no home or auto damage occurred.
I kept hearing what sounded like small explosions all night long, and by the time I went out Friday morning, the empty lot across the street was half covered with fallen debris. By Saturday, the lot was totally covered.
I was outside around nine in the morning when a large limb fell just to the north of me. It covered the street so precisely from curb to curb that it almost looked like it had been placed there. You’d think this would have completely stopped traffic, but a few cars (and at least one city bus) just drove on the sidewalk to bypass it.A neighbor came over and asked if I’d help him move the branch out of the street. I told him I actually thought that having traffic slowed down here was a good thing, so I’d just leave it. He thought about what I said for a second then added that he saw my point and it sounded good to him.
About an hour later, two guys hooked a rope to it and pulled it out of the way (sort of.) They actually left it in one lane of the street and right along the side of my house. That pretty much finished blocking off the parking on the side of my house and I felt compelled to say something to them at first. But then I figured they were just trying to help, and there really was no good place to put it, so I just let it pass. I’m betting it will be after Christmas before the City gets around to clearing this road. Sure hope so, because I don’t plan to take the tree lights down until after that..
Well, I hope all of you survived the storm, and I wish all of you a merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sory I'm late honey...I accidently locked my keys in the car!
I was driving home early this morning at a little past midnight when I saw something that caught my interest. The police had pulled over a vehicle a couple blocks away from my house, which in itself is not really that unusual. However, what first caught my attention about this scene was that there were three officers and only one patrol car. There were no other police cars in the area. Usually there are one or two officers to a car, but I have rarely ever seen three in one car. Anyway, as odd as that fact might be, it was not really at the heart of the story here, just something of interest to take note of.
I parked for ten minutes and watched as the driver of the car was handcuffed and taken by two of the officers back to their patrol car. The third officer then began searching the car, including the trunk. At one point he appeared to be dumping the contents of the ashtray on the ground, then went back inside the car. I know he turned the ignition key, as I heard the engine squeal, but I’m not sure if it actually started.
After a few minutes, this officer joined the others and all three stood there with the handcuffed man and talked a bit. The officers then let the man walk back towards his car, and they all three got in their car and drove away. I watched as this man stumbled around in the dark beside his car for a few minutes, and became more curious as to exactly what was going on. I decided to pull up behind him and ask if everything was okay.
His initial reaction was a bit startling. If I am standing out on a dark street in a high crime area of town, and another car pulls up on me, I am going to do one of two things. Either I am going to walk towards that vehicle (most likely with my hand on my gun) or I am going to walk away from it. Instead, what this man did was to just stand there, with his head hung low, and not move an inch. He remained this way for at least thirty seconds and I finally realized he probably thought I was another police officer. He was simply afraid to move or even to look up at me.
I called to him, asking if he was okay, and he then approached my vehicle. I asked why the police had stopped him and he said he had been talking with a girl. I said “You mean there was a girl in your car?” He responded “No, she was walking and I stopped to talk to her.” He then told me that the officers had locked his keys inside the car. I was seriously considering offering him a ride, just because I didn’t think it was safe for him to be walking this neighborhood in the middle of the night. The look of concern must have shown on my face because he then said “I’ll be okay, thanks.” He then began walking home.
Now that you know the story, there’s a couple things to consider here. First of all, this incident supports my belief that most patrol officers really would rather simply stop a problem from occurring, rather than to arrest someone. This guy looked a little inebriated, and if he’s going to be driving through this neighborhood in the middle of the night and calling out to strangers who are walking around then he probably shouldn’t be behind the wheel. I think what happened was that these officers assessed the situation and determined that this guy hadn’t caused any real harm, but that he had the potential to do so. Basically, they disabled his vehicle for the night, and let him go on his way.
What is troubling about this, however, is the potential for something to go wrong. As I have said before, I see a lot of police activity here that never even gets reported on FWPD’s daily activity report. It seems that to allow a situation where an officer can detain and handcuff a person, while leaving no record of the event, is an invitation for abuse to occur. Now it might be that some internal documentation is actually done in such cases, but of course there is no way of knowing this.
In the past two years, I have directly led police to discover illegal drugs here three times that I know of. The first two times were in December 2006, so there is no on-line record for comparison. But in March of 2007, I called FWPD to report drug activity here. A short while later, there was scanner traffic that appeared to be related to my call. Then, several patrol cars swooped down on the place and the officers grabbed one of the guys as he was running. They found several rocks of crack cocaine on the ground where he and his friends had been standing, so they handcuffed him and sat him down on a neighbors steps. As two of the officers were arguing with the suspect and his mother, Officer Jefferson (a member of the FWPD Command Staff) arrived to negotiate the situation.
No arrests were made that day, but a report actually does appear to have been filed on this activity.
http://www.fwpd.org/daily/display/20080326.html
08F042877 14:08:57 99 NARCOTICS 25XX WARSAW ST & SUTTENFIELD ST E
If anyone is able to get their hands on that report, it should state that four or five rocks of crack were found on the ground that afternoon. I really doubt if this report would be released publicly, but if it was, it might be interesting to check and see if they handle drug busts here in the same style as Indy (officers skimming off the top.)
Anyway, I’ll have to wait until Monday afternoon to check and see if the traffic stop I witnessed a couple hours ago even appears on their activity report. It seems doubtful since the guy obviously hadn’t yet done enough to warrant being arrested, but then the officers went ahead and purposely locked him out of his car. Which makes one wonder - what if it had been a pretty young woman who was stopped alone (by three men with guns) on that dark and desolate street, or what if the officers had found a large amount of drugs and cash in the car? If they can do nice things off the record, then couldn’t they just as easily do bad things?
I certainly can appreciate that allowing police officers a certain amount of discretion can often be helpful to both the people they stop as well as the communities they serve. But if this discretion is so wide as to allow them to simply act without any record being made, then there is simply no way such a system can fail to eventually corrupt some officers, if it hasn’t already.
So remember to check the FWPD activity report after it is released on Monday afternoon and look for something similar to this posted there.
http://www.fwpd.org/daily/display/20081213.html
08F190xxx 00:10:00 30 TRAFFIC STOP 4XX CREIGHTON AVE E & WARSAW ST
Actually, now that I think about it, this was early enough in the morning that it might have been initiated at the end of the previous night. Regardless, the rest of the details are unchanged so it shouldn't be difficult to spot.
If you don’t find it, then it’s just one more example of the police acting off-record. If you do find it, then at least my predicting it before it was published will perhaps add more credibility to my reporting here.
I parked for ten minutes and watched as the driver of the car was handcuffed and taken by two of the officers back to their patrol car. The third officer then began searching the car, including the trunk. At one point he appeared to be dumping the contents of the ashtray on the ground, then went back inside the car. I know he turned the ignition key, as I heard the engine squeal, but I’m not sure if it actually started.
After a few minutes, this officer joined the others and all three stood there with the handcuffed man and talked a bit. The officers then let the man walk back towards his car, and they all three got in their car and drove away. I watched as this man stumbled around in the dark beside his car for a few minutes, and became more curious as to exactly what was going on. I decided to pull up behind him and ask if everything was okay.
His initial reaction was a bit startling. If I am standing out on a dark street in a high crime area of town, and another car pulls up on me, I am going to do one of two things. Either I am going to walk towards that vehicle (most likely with my hand on my gun) or I am going to walk away from it. Instead, what this man did was to just stand there, with his head hung low, and not move an inch. He remained this way for at least thirty seconds and I finally realized he probably thought I was another police officer. He was simply afraid to move or even to look up at me.
I called to him, asking if he was okay, and he then approached my vehicle. I asked why the police had stopped him and he said he had been talking with a girl. I said “You mean there was a girl in your car?” He responded “No, she was walking and I stopped to talk to her.” He then told me that the officers had locked his keys inside the car. I was seriously considering offering him a ride, just because I didn’t think it was safe for him to be walking this neighborhood in the middle of the night. The look of concern must have shown on my face because he then said “I’ll be okay, thanks.” He then began walking home.
Now that you know the story, there’s a couple things to consider here. First of all, this incident supports my belief that most patrol officers really would rather simply stop a problem from occurring, rather than to arrest someone. This guy looked a little inebriated, and if he’s going to be driving through this neighborhood in the middle of the night and calling out to strangers who are walking around then he probably shouldn’t be behind the wheel. I think what happened was that these officers assessed the situation and determined that this guy hadn’t caused any real harm, but that he had the potential to do so. Basically, they disabled his vehicle for the night, and let him go on his way.
What is troubling about this, however, is the potential for something to go wrong. As I have said before, I see a lot of police activity here that never even gets reported on FWPD’s daily activity report. It seems that to allow a situation where an officer can detain and handcuff a person, while leaving no record of the event, is an invitation for abuse to occur. Now it might be that some internal documentation is actually done in such cases, but of course there is no way of knowing this.
In the past two years, I have directly led police to discover illegal drugs here three times that I know of. The first two times were in December 2006, so there is no on-line record for comparison. But in March of 2007, I called FWPD to report drug activity here. A short while later, there was scanner traffic that appeared to be related to my call. Then, several patrol cars swooped down on the place and the officers grabbed one of the guys as he was running. They found several rocks of crack cocaine on the ground where he and his friends had been standing, so they handcuffed him and sat him down on a neighbors steps. As two of the officers were arguing with the suspect and his mother, Officer Jefferson (a member of the FWPD Command Staff) arrived to negotiate the situation.
No arrests were made that day, but a report actually does appear to have been filed on this activity.
http://www.fwpd.org/daily/display/20080326.html
08F042877 14:08:57 99 NARCOTICS 25XX WARSAW ST & SUTTENFIELD ST E
If anyone is able to get their hands on that report, it should state that four or five rocks of crack were found on the ground that afternoon. I really doubt if this report would be released publicly, but if it was, it might be interesting to check and see if they handle drug busts here in the same style as Indy (officers skimming off the top.)
Anyway, I’ll have to wait until Monday afternoon to check and see if the traffic stop I witnessed a couple hours ago even appears on their activity report. It seems doubtful since the guy obviously hadn’t yet done enough to warrant being arrested, but then the officers went ahead and purposely locked him out of his car. Which makes one wonder - what if it had been a pretty young woman who was stopped alone (by three men with guns) on that dark and desolate street, or what if the officers had found a large amount of drugs and cash in the car? If they can do nice things off the record, then couldn’t they just as easily do bad things?
I certainly can appreciate that allowing police officers a certain amount of discretion can often be helpful to both the people they stop as well as the communities they serve. But if this discretion is so wide as to allow them to simply act without any record being made, then there is simply no way such a system can fail to eventually corrupt some officers, if it hasn’t already.
So remember to check the FWPD activity report after it is released on Monday afternoon and look for something similar to this posted there.
http://www.fwpd.org/daily/display/20081213.html
08F190xxx 00:10:00 30 TRAFFIC STOP 4XX CREIGHTON AVE E & WARSAW ST
Actually, now that I think about it, this was early enough in the morning that it might have been initiated at the end of the previous night. Regardless, the rest of the details are unchanged so it shouldn't be difficult to spot.
If you don’t find it, then it’s just one more example of the police acting off-record. If you do find it, then at least my predicting it before it was published will perhaps add more credibility to my reporting here.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Should Drugs Be Legalized?
Robert Enders has a post on the Libertarian Party web-site calling for an end to America’s “War on Drugs.”
I would like to direct your attention there, as I would really enjoy hearing other people’s thoughts on this subject.
If you wish to comment on this please do so at the Libertarian site, rather than mine, since they originated the discussion.
http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-5th-is-repeal-day.html
I would like to direct your attention there, as I would really enjoy hearing other people’s thoughts on this subject.
If you wish to comment on this please do so at the Libertarian site, rather than mine, since they originated the discussion.
http://allencountylp.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-5th-is-repeal-day.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)