Tuesday, December 23, 2014
'Tis the season of politicizing tragedy
I'm speaking of course of the assassination of two NYPD officers in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn last Saturday afternoon. Consensus analysis is the psycho did what he did in revenge for the death of Eric Garner at the hands of the police. Pat Lynch head of the NY PBA has said Mayor de Blasio has blood on his hands. What in hell is that supposed to mean??? Lately Pat Lynch is always angry about something and he's coming across as a tad irrational. Then there's the coverage of all things cop in the NY Post the only right-wing paper in town. They seem to be saying the tragedy was caused by the last few weeks' nationwide protests over the deaths of Michael Brown and Garner. Um, protesting is a part of our very democracy, a democratic lynchpin or pillar and nobody has to agree with everybody but it's there your right to express yourself and be heard sans violence of course. It seems to me if more in the NYPD and the right-wing paper of record at least conceded that look excessive force was used in the Garner case it would go a LONG way towards easing national tensions across-the-board. There are those who are anti-cop and they're very anti-cop and those who are pro-police are pro-police no matter what the case or situation. Opposite hardcores imo never make for a better society, no room for compromise or even listening for cryin' out loud. Newtown happened in 2012 just about two weeks before Christmas and now this happened even closer to Xmas. Don't know what to make of that it's just an observation:)
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Being a cop is a tough job. I've seen a few of the TV reality shows "Alaska State Troopers, Maine Game Dept' etc. Maybe we need some reality TV on the NYPD?
ReplyDeleteYou know, replace Duck Dynasty, Moonshiners and the like. Talked to a lot of
law types when I was in the ammo biz, sheriffs, FBI, state troopers, big city types,
Interpol (never a bobbie, I guess they don't carry) and every one was a professional.
Think exactly opposite from the motely well-armed crew surrounding chisler Bundy
down in Nevada last year. IMO, a good cop is more valuable than a typical CEO,
politician or zillionaire athlete/singer. O' course, I'm ancient and grumpy.
I'm putting you safely ensconced on the pro-cop side of the ledger but no matter how I crack it I keep coming to the conclusion Eric Garner should not be dead, that PO Pantaleo should have been indicted on some lesser charge. So can we square all of this?
ReplyDeleteCertainly Pat Lynch et al need to tone down the rhetoric. I mean what if another psycho, the opposite type psycho from the one who shot the cops comes gunning for the Mayor because Lynch said he has blood on his hands? & oh btw if anybody forgot it's Christmas.
ReplyDeleteChristmas-Peace On Earth; t'would be nice, but betcha somewhere there is
Deletehavoc on that day. Little town, we: no Miracle On 24th Street here, they only go up to 14th or so. But yesterday they had food for the poor and we
had a mile-long traffic jam. On a steep hill. First time ever. The police had
their hands full, but no one was shot or strangled. Always sumpin.
Always somethin'. Today I'm driving in Greenburgh and they got the road blocked off. Turns out the Staples in Elmsford got suspicious boxes delivered so they called the bomb squad. No bombs but everyone was majorly inconvenienced.
DeleteAnother jetliner disappeared. One of my favorite old pieces of furniture is a 45 year old floor globe (like Inspector Clouseau caught his hand in) which sits in my study.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the globe, the spherical chords and lat v longitude, we note that a straight line through the center of the earth from the area where the AsianAir and Malaysian planes disappeared emerges in the Bermuda Triangle. What a treat for conspiracy
theorists.
I thought this post was slowly going extinct. Thank you. I too have a fondness for globes. Currently I'm reading Walden, yeah that book by Thoreau. Well it was a freebie on Google Play which doesn't offer many freebies.
DeleteThe police thing with the cops turning their backs on de Blasio, it's so polarizing and sad. It's almost a relief to meander here.
ReplyDeleteI guess they thought he threw them under the PC bus? Have you noticed in
Deletecurrent times the mistaken generalizations we have? All cops are bad cops,
all blacks are thugs, all libs are commies, all teachers a poor teachers, etc.
Simple logic and observation negate such opinion, but cognitive dissonance,
group comfort and media overdose feed it. (IMO, of course)
All he did was make a comment about his biracial son Dante and the police. Folks can disagree as they will but it seemed comparatively mild to me, not backturning-worthy imo.
DeleteIt seems conservatives hate the Federal Guv and want to transfer those powers to the states. Not me. For example, Idaho-
ReplyDelete"Except as expressly authorized by state statute, no county, city, agency, board or any other political subdivision of this state may adopt or enforce any law, rule, regulation, or ordinance which regulates in any manner the sale, acquisition, transfer, ownership, possession, transportation, carrying or storage of firearms or any element relating to firearms and components thereof, including ammunition."
Screw the cities and towns, ya know?
Even as a conservative I was never down with this whole love affair with guns. I want to decreepify the brand ya know? Read a good book or go hiking.
DeleteIs the Appalachian Trail around there?
DeleteCuts across Bear Mtn. across the Bear Mtn. Br. and according to some recent googling I did runs close to Nuclear Lake upstate in Pawling. Nuclear Lake has a very interesting history which you can google. If I hike there will I grow a third testicle or become a porn star?
DeleteThat looks like a scenic area. Lead boots and a Geiger counter advised.
Delete...and don't eat the fish from Nuclear Lake.
I see Roger Corman is still doing his thing.
DeleteNuclear Lake reminds me of that other esoteric place on the Hudson: Port Ewen.
ReplyDeleteThere was a plant that made blasting caps there, going back to the first part of the century. Run by Hercules Powder, Ireco, Brewster and Dyno-Nobel, in that order.
The caps are charged with diazodinitrophenol. At one time I was making that as well, and had some phone conversations with them. They claimed there were three
cyrstalizations and I was curious enough to order five lbs of each. Such is the nature of the stuff, it cost way more to ship than buy: a drum suspended in a semi
by bungee cords, inside packed with wet sawdust was a rubber box. No US company would transport it, and I ended up with some Canadian EX transport hauling explosives to Utah. The truck showed up, we had him follow our pilot vehicle into the plant and he parked next to a bunker. I was dumfounded: the Canuck had long hair and a beard and looked a lot like Jesus. He was also considerably drunk. Gotta love NY!
My mind was meandering today after I drove past an old place I used to work at. Though on balance in my life I've slept adequately a few times I was plagued by what's called short-term insomnia. Many moons ago I worked at a public library for well over 5 years and never once had a bad night. Now that's a big chunk of time to never have a sleepless night. Another job I had at a fence co./nursery I never had a bad night either though I wasn't there quite as long. OK that was in my younger days and timewise anyway my short-term insomnia always coincided with other jobs to varying degrees. So is it the job or is it age or both?
ReplyDeleteCould be diet, noise or the two you mentioned. I have known people that go to spend a night at the sleep clinic with wires attached. Attached wires would keep me awake.
DeleteIf the balance of sleep is ok but the rate of insomnia is higher than normal and this correlates to a specific job then imo this is unacceptable. Also I was using herbal supplements recently like dandelion root and while there aremany health benefits they cause too much going to the bathroom at night so from a risk/benefit ratio I threw the bottle in the garbage.
DeleteThe Call Of Nature thing during the wee hours increases with age. My problem with insomnia is getting back to sleep. Often, I just get up if it is
Deleteafter 3AM. Then the nightmare thing: a couple nights back, I had the deck door open a little. It was 20 outside and pretty cool inside, but I got
nightsweats anyway. Some guy was hassling me on the highway, stealing stuff when I stopped and was just sinister. No doubt Tea Party,
so I got up. Just saying.
I posed to Saty once would you rather have a really bad nightmare or insomnia? I chose the nightmare, she chose insomnia.
DeleteWhat's this I hear about mysterious explosions in Idaho?
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard about the ghostly explosions in Idaho. Blackfoot, where they were reported, is a bit over 300 crowfly miles (think Washington DC, Niagara Falls, Pittsburg from Yonkers). It is an old mystery that I figured was fissuring in the mountains, but the Blackfoot area is in an agricultural valley. We have a lot of amateur gold/sapphire/Uranium prospecters, who may have dislodged a seam, but most of
ReplyDeletethose guys are flat brook, so your guess is as good as mine.
No Sasquatch connection? The Asian airline industry is having hard times.
ReplyDeleteDoes CNN overdo the Asian plane problems, or is it just me? There is an
Deleteold saying, 'If God intended man to fly he would have given them feathers'.
My thoughts exactly. I don't think we were meant to be up there, then again travel is quicker.
DeleteThat Sasquatch thing is interesting. Back in the day some guy in Iowa made himself
ReplyDeletesome oversized feet out of plywood and went running up and down creek beds. Which made the news and brought in the cryptozoologists by the ton. Sometime when you are out hiking the environs, you might want to amuse yourself.
Gun culture 1 motherhood 0 .
ReplyDeleteHow come these things always happen at a Walmart? Holiday shopper shoots store mgr's left nut off when gun accidentally goes off - Walmart in Snake River:)
DeleteMaybe WalMart should change their name to OK Corral. They seem to be a regular shooting range . The customers are like those metal ducks you can shoot at the Fair for $5 and get a
DeleteWalMart fluffy bear. Out for breakfast at 5 this AM. It was zero and my
gas gage froze on empty. Dinging and flashing lights halfway home until
it unstuck. Am looking for tires this week; the ones on the truck were put on in 2001 and I'm thinking that is pretty much the life of a tire.
Sometimes your posts remind me of the movie "Fargo." YAH
ReplyDeleteYa, you pretty well flagged me. Officer training '64, a whole flock of VMI,
DeleteCitadel, Georgia Tech guys thought I talked funny. Still, after 35 years in
the west, people say, "You from the upper Midwest?" Still, IMO, the dialog coaches
in Fargo overdid it a bit, yeah.
A new deadly virus has shown up in the US. You should be OK if you avoid your
ReplyDeletebottle of Jim Beam .
With such a brief wiki article you know it hasn't showed up on the radar screen yet.
Delete