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War protestors convicted of misdemeanor; police officer wishes them well:
"All these people are nice people," [Sergeant] McLaughlin said after the court proceedings. "They're dedicated to their cause. We didn't arrest them because of their beliefs. We arrested them because of their activity, which created a dangerous situation."
Right on the money.
I'm opposed to the use of black box monitoring devices that are installed in cars without the purchasers' knowledge. And I'm really opposed to government use of such devices. But this little camera system, halfway black box, seems like a good idea for parents to use.
Radley Balko pointed to this item, from Lubbock, Texas - another in the long list of automated traffic enforcement problems. Those cameras can simply be wrong, can have unintended consequences, or can result in large private profits from public enforcement action. All of which are improper in my view, and reasons to forbid their use. But the biggest danger of all has been hypothetical until now as far as I know - the danger that the system will be rigged by someone with an interest.
This lesson from Lubbock is an important one. I say again, let's ban traffic cameras. If Lubbock does, maybe Mac Davis will come home.
Audi plans a fast coupe, the A5, to challenge the BMW 6 series. Who knew? Well, probably everyone who follows the industry closely, that's who, but not me. Audi executes stylish design better than any other automaker I know; this thing is sure to be gorgeous. Though it looks part E90 to me. (Audi photo: Autoweek. Full coverage and photos there.)
Which will be the first auto mag to test the new A5 on the A5?
I shouldn't call it a break, really, because the pricing is long-standing; I'm referring to the apparent revocation of the proposed increase, of course. If the governor really wanted to do the right thing with the Turnpike, he'd take down the tolls altogether, or at least those west of the 128.
Note: don't miss that it was the Turnpike staff who recommended ending the discount for Fast Lane users. Why? So there would be more money for them. It's hard work, you know. Sitting on a stool and being rude to people all day long for $60,000 a year is barely worth it.
Chicago PD is using automated license plate readers. While these devices certainly have an application in law enforcement, I'm wary of their widespread deployment. They have the capability to ensure that every minor motor vehicle regulation is enforced. (In Boston, the city transportation department mounted them on a Ford Explorer for parking enforcement.) While I'm not opposed to motor vehicle enforcement, I am opposed to the 100% enforcement of almost any regulatory scheme. A society that has no wiggle room is a society that has no freedom, hence no spirit or creativity.
Chicago PD has also deployed lidar, the laser speed guns against which your radar detector is probably useless. Watch the traffic in front of you for brake lights.
Finally, keep an eye on your catalytic converter in Chicago. It seems they're being cut out of cars in large parking lots. The police wonder why, and blog to ask what the thieves want the rhodium and palladium for. The PD is asking what the metals are for? Apparently they haven't heard of Google.
Sheesh....
Sometimes, animals win. Of course, they shot the cat.
"Police and zoo officials were investigating what led a 140-pound jaguar to maul a zookeeper to death in the doorway of its exhibit."
Um, it wanted to get out?
Typepad's pimping the Chicago Police blog on its front screen, so I clicked over. Police blogs are good ideas, if they're designed to get information out to the public like, say, this one. I'm not sure about the Chicago PD one. First off, can't they host their own domain? I mean, it's Chicago, not Peoria; what's with Typepad? Typepad is for people who barely know how to use the internet (me) and don't have an IT department (me again).
That aside, the motto is "Of the Police...By the Police...For the Police," which is confusing. It's not for the public? Then why put out self-congratulatory crap like this? They also run stuff like this, which isn't interesting unless you know what it means.
Well, maybe they'll sort out the kinks and figure out which way they want to go with it. here's a hint: it's a good idea to push information out to your communities and it's a bad idea to run a cop-commentary site that turns into an anti-management bitchfest (that's what union meetings are for). Trying for the middle ground -cop commentary that's all PR approved- is just a waste of bandwidth.
Sure, kill the drug dealers. While we're at it, we could stone adulterers, amputate thieves and legalize honor killings. Society would be much safer.
Seriously, all I learned from that article is that the mayor of Barre, Vermont is an idiot.
I have no idea how this happened, but it was probably the cab driver's fault and it made me happy.
