Carpundit

Policing In New England

The Rhode Island State Police are seeking the power to obtain phone and internet records without court order or oversight.  That is a bad plan.  Local and state police around the country (though not here in Massachusetts) have been running up a poor record of respect for civil liberties as they staff out "anti-terror" units, SWATs, and other special response or investigative units.  Such agencies generally don't have the training, the culture, or the internal controls to allow them such broad powers.

The Boston Police are expanding the applicant pool.  That is a good plan.  The more applicants they have, the pickier they can be.  Some of the worst police corruption scandals of the last 20 years around the country can be directly traced to lax hiring standards or poor background investigation.  A diverse police department is a good thing, but the diversity mustn't come at the expense of standards, as it sometimes has in some departments.

Well-Wired, But Clueless In a Volvo

Spotted driving near Alewife on Tuesday, headed toward Boston, was this 30-40 year-old man with a bluetooth phone in his ear, chatting up a storm.  It's safe to assume some of his attention was going to the phone call.  Some of it might have been going to directions, too, because he had a car-portable GPS in the car.  Not much attention left for driving.  That's OK, though.

There's no point paying attention to your driving when you can't see where you're going.  His GPS is smack in the center of the windshield, right below the rearview mirror.  (See detail; click for larger.)  It blocks a good 10 degrees of visibility.  How stupid can someone be?

Massachusetts Governor

You know I didn't vote for him, but I've got to say that both this and this seem like good ideas.  Keep biotech industry here, and make the road safe enough that it doesn't kill biotech employees on their way to work.

(Image source: here.)

Evolution

OK, so I'm a week behind the news cycle; this isn't NewsPundit.

Still: I couldn't agree more.

Speaking of Commonwealth Avenue

Toward the end of the afternoon, when the Walk for Hunger participants were straggling back to the Common, I was walking home after parking the car.  I saw two things of note.

1. This is about the only Nissan 350Z I've ever liked.  It has aftermarket wheels and exhaust, and that's about it.  Really nice looking in the afternoon sun.

2. It's the Walk for Hunger, people, not the Walk to Feed the Rats.

Congressman Takes On the Mass Turnpike

Michael Capuano is my Congressman, and I voted against hin last time because I was so mad about his vote in favor of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act.  But if he can bring down the Turnpike Authority I'll send $500 to his campaign and put his sign in my window in 2008.

Weekend Roundup

Supposedly, the original General Lee sold for almost ten million on eBay.  I'm skeptical.

Paris Hilton was sent off to jail.  I think it's good thing when the super-rich untouchables learn they're touchable after all.  It's America's version of the palace coup.  No one goes up against the wall, but points are made.

A convict is whining about his impending execution, aided by uncritical reporters who let him get away with a non-apology apology.  Being "sorry that a police officer died" just isn't the same as "I'm sorry I killed that police officer."  Or even, "I'm sorry I committed a violent crime that led directly to the death of a police officer."  And why is it that reporters will publish the name of the convict but not the name of the murder victim?  (Lieutenant Ronald Oliver.)

Over at Rennlist, the dogs are calming down, but the Coral Gables Collection still hasn't done the right thing with their customer's Porsche - the one they wrecked.  The summary is shorter on this guy's blog, but the list post is a good read - if just for laughs.

Imus

I think he got a raw deal, and I think he ought to sue his former employer -if only because Les Moonves seems like such a jerk- but I can't feel as good about this as I'd like, because I'm a CBS shareholder.

Mike Daisey in Cambridge

Speaking of Cambridge, we went among the travelers last night to take in a show at the Zero Arrow Theater - Mike Daisey's Monopoly.   It was a good show.  He's very bright, funny and a good storyteller.  I can't say I agree with his anti-capitalist message, but I like hearing from people I disagree with.  (Not that I've managed to listen to a single speech by the President in six years, but it's a priniciple I try to honor.)

The theater sucks, though.  I mean, it's a good effort, with nice restrooms and a fine stage.  But if you're going to skimp on one thing in a new theater, I recommend it not be the seats.  At the Zero Arrow, the seats are cheap injection-molded plastic, a lot like the Little Tikes riding products for kids.  That would be OK, except they're slippery.  I was fighting to stay in my chair the whole time.

Go see Mike Daisey; bring double-sided tape.

Throw the Bums Out!

Channel 7 News - I trust TV news, don't you?- reported last night that this fire was started by a cigarette discarded by a homeless man.  Apparently there's a lot of trash in the underside of the bridge, as well as a lot of homeless people living there.  How they know what started a lot of trash burning, or who threw the cigarette if it was a cigarette, is beyond me.  Seems like there must be a lot of assumptions involved.  If it's true, we need to clean that up.  Get the garbage out and the bums out.  The garbage we can haul to the dump.  The bums?

How about downtown Cambridge?