Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Changing Citizen-Police Attitudes in a Police State Requires New Sets of Values and Expectations

The increasing problem with police-citizen interactions is not solved by speaking truth to power but by changing the cultural and social norms that support violence

Boston police facing activists 
during an anti-war demonstration
 at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
by Brian Corr
The Only Truly Compliant, Submissive Citizen in a Police State Is a Dead One, says Rutherford Institute’s John Whitehead. Providing anecdotal evidence of victims of police violence who were compliant and still ended up being injured or killed, Whitehead concludes that being compliant with a police directive doesn’t necessarily mean someone will come out of an interaction with a police officer unscathed.

The solution to the problem, he suggests, is to “adopt a different mindset and follow a different path if we are to alter the outcome of interactions with police.” He says, “... history shows us a different path, one that involves standing up and speaking truth to power.”

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Republican Dominated Government: No Gridlock but Hardship for Everyone Except the Wealthy Class

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) fervently spoke out against the Republican 2016 budget resolutions. His disdain is deep for Republicans who believe the deficit is so bad that it’s necessary to make cuts to Social Security, Medicare, nutrition, education, defund the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. Yet when it comes to war deficits, it doesn’t seem to matter. “How hypocritical can you get?”

Friday, March 6, 2015

Chicago Police Department’s Homan Square Torture Accusations Set a Dangerous Precedent


Homan Square, once a warehouse on Chicago’s west side, is a Chicago Police Special Operations detention and interrogation center. The center is accused of abusing prisoners, holding them for hours without any official record of their detention, and preventing them from their legal right to be represented by an attorney. The center has been likened to a CIA black site, according to The Guardian.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Here We Go Again: LAPD Kill a Homeless Man

A bystander’s video of Los Angeles police officers killing a homeless man, known as Africa, should make everyone’s blood boil. But I’m sure, unfortunately, it will not. Some will support police no matter what. But I will not. It’s murder no matter what way you slice it.