APD, loco

Police brutality matters

The cops have a tough job, both boring and dangerous. However, they have to police themselves, too. Too many cops overreact and escalate situations. Too many citizens have been injured or killed by the police. Clean house. Get rid of the thugs in blue.

Albuquerque Journal | Appeals court rules arrest of ABQ family was illegal

By Scott Sandlin / Journal Staff Writer
Monday, November 2nd, 2015 at 12:05am

Copyright © 2015 Albuquerque Journal

Elementary school principal Stephen Maresca was heading home from hiking in the Sandias with his wife, three children and their dog when the family was arrested by armed deputies after a rookie Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy typed in a wrong license plate number.

Stephen Maresca, center, is shown in this photo with his wife, Heather, and their children. At the time of a March 2013 arrest, he was serving as principal of the Arroyo del Oso Elementary School in Albuquerque. He died unexpectedly from a heart attack earlier this year at the age of 53. (Courtesy of Heather Maresca)

Stephen Maresca, center, is shown in this photo with his wife, Heather, and their children. At the time of a March 2013 arrest, he was serving as principal of the Arroyo del Oso Elementary School in Albuquerque. He died unexpectedly from a heart attack earlier this year at the age of 53. (Courtesy of Heather Maresca)

Responding officers had the couple and their children exit the truck, walk backward with their hands up and lie face-down on the pavement. The officers aimed firearms at the parents and children, including two boys ages 17 and 14 and a 9-year-old girl, according to a summary of evidence in an opinion by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The court ruled last month that the arrest was illegal – reversing an earlier decision that gave the arresting officer, Deputy J. Fuentes, immunity.

The county is now on the hook for that 2013 arrest by Fuentes.

Albuquerque Journal | Appeals court rules arrest of ABQ family was illegal

Election

The struggle within the Democratic Party in a nutshell …

“If any of these Republicans is elected, we’re all f*cked. ”

Robert Reich

Last night with two friends over dinner:

Fred: I trust Bernie. He hasn’t waivered on these issues in forty years. Hillary is all over the place. And she’s taking money from billionaires and big banks.

Linda: But Bernie can’t be elected president. Americans will never elect a 74-year-old Jewish socialist. Hillary can be elected. And we can’t risk this election. If any of these Republicans is elected we’re all f*cked.

Fred: Bernie can be elected. Polls don’t measure enthusiasm. And it’s enthusiasm that gets people to the voting booths — and is turning Bernie’s candidacy into a national movement to take back our economy and reclaim our democracy.

Linda: Movement shmovement. “Occupy” was supposed to be a movement, too. Your movements are bullshit. Politics is about discipline and organization. That’s Hillary.

Fred: People don’t trust Hillary. They don’t like her. They won’t vote for her.

Linda: They will if her opponent is Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, or any of the other right-wing fanatics Republicans nominate.

Fred: What good will it do to elect a president whose principles shift like a weathervane?

Linda: What good will it do to have a nominee who can’t get elected?

What’s your view? Who won this argument?

Robert Reich

Election

Sanders spends $2M on 1st ad campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire

I remember when I decided to support Barack Obama. It was in January of 2008. Whatever else I may have heard or read, one commercial won me over. Absurd? Sure, but that one commercial made me write the biggest check I have ever sent any cause. ONE commercial can make a difference. One donation — of any size — CAN make a difference. Together, WE can elect Bernie Sanders President of the United States in 2016. Don’t believe the naysayers. Vote for real change.

Sanders spends $2M on 1st ad campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is spending $2 million on his first television ad campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, casting himself as a longtime fighter against injustice and inequality.

The ad traces Sanders’ humble upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, and notes that he attended Dr. Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963.

It tells viewers about his work as the mayor of a Vermont city and in Congress and says he’s now “taking on Wall Street and a corrupt political system.”

It points to the 1 million contributors to his campaign and shows footage of his large rallies around the nation.

It’s his first ad of his campaign to challenge front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders spends $2M on 1st ad campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire

‘Next Phase’ for Sanders as TV Ad Signals Move to Amplify Popular Message | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

As CNN put it, “The ad buy is a significant step for a campaign that started with a shoestring budget, though now the democratic socialist has a strong fundraising operation.”

‘Next Phase’ for Sanders as TV Ad Signals Move to Amplify Popular Message | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

Uncategorized

The Uniform Time Act

I used to resent changing clocks twice a year. I came to appreciate it as an absurdly arbitrary act that inconveniences everyone equally. And I love to see government get under the skin of Conservatives and make them do its bidding.

The Sky This Week, 2015 October 27 – November 3 — Naval Oceanography Portal

This annual ritual now takes place on the first Sunday in November thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress’ most recent modification of the Uniform Time Act of 1966. This Act establishes in U.S. Code the boundaries of the country’s time zones and specifies the dates that Daylight Time is in force. Daylight Time has always been controversial since its first introduction to our clocks in 1918, and many people today still don’t like it. Folks in Arizona are the only ones in the “lower 48” who don’t change their clocks during the course of the year; however, if you visit the Navajo Nation in the northeast corner of the state, you’ll need to obey the Daylight Time rules while there. To add to the confusion, the Hopi Reservation that lies within the Navajo Nation follows Arizona’s rules, so a drive through these regions will have you furiously adjusting your watch! If you are one of the many folks who don’t like the rules, you can contact the Department of Transportation, the civilian agency tasked with enforcing the Act’s requirements. Here at the Naval Observatory we keep only one time-scale, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), to which all American time-zones are tied, but we have no “say” in how that time is used!

The Sky This Week, 2015 October 27 – November 3 — Naval Oceanography Portal

The Atheist's Pulpit

34 years ago tonight …

mjh & MR in Landmark Shopping Center photo machine, Alexandria, VA, January 1984Friday night, Halloween weekend, 1981, Robert Coontz brought someone new home for dinner (probably spaghetti). I stood in the living room to meet her and she walked around the far side of the coffee table, nose in the air. She wasn’t avoiding me (she said), just sniffing her surroundings, having been a dog in a former life. That was my introduction to Merri Rudd, my belovéd-to-be.

[photo: mjh & MR in Landmark Shopping Center photo machine, Alexandria, VA, January 1984.]

WTF?!

Rage against the machine – again and again

Wow. That was absolutely un-fucking unacceptable. I sat down to journal 45 goddamn minutes ago and NOW I’m just able to start. Scream of rage at Microsoft, at Windows 10, at Dell. RAGE.

Deep breath. The day had started fine.

Cuppa coffee in hand, I sat in front of the big screen tv as I do every morning. A few things on the computer were still stuck from last night. Couldn’t see any notifications. Couldn’t access the Start menu. No biggie, I’m used to restarting at least once every goddamn day — at least once. So, I restarted and an update installed. This must be the tweak to the latest build I’d read about. Before long, the first error message. Eventually, the system ran restore on its own, but failed. I ran System Restore manually to roll back 24 hours. It said it failed, but eventually, I got in and it said it succeeded in restoring. Click on OneNote. “App cannot run. Contact Administrator.” FUCK YOU, Microsoft. Who the hell do you think the goddamn administrator is? So, restore did fail, at least in part. Restart. No better. OK, go to the Store and reinstall OneNote. Nope, Store won’t load. In fact, I gather by an overlay that all Store apps are fucked up. Nice.

I’ve been a rat in computer maze for over 30 years. I’ve run into countless dead-ends before. There’s always a way around. I install OneNote 2013, the free desktop app. It’s overkill for my purposes, but the simpler app won’t load. I wait while 2013 installs. Wait to load notebooks. Wait. Now, an hour after I began, I’m sorta caught up. Of course, I don’t know yet if anything else runs.

Sigh.

If anyone mentions “Apple” or “Macintosh” in the comments, I will drown a kitten.

Election

Why the GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’ | BillMoyers.com

One hundred and fifty years after the Civil War, the fight continues. This year, it burns the Republicans and they richly deserve it.

Why the GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’ | BillMoyers.com by William Greider originally in The Nation

The GOP finds itself trapped in a marriage that has not only gone bad but is coming apart in full public view. After five decades of shrewd strategy, the Republican coalition Richard Nixon put together in 1968 — welcoming the segregationist white South into the Party of Lincoln — is now devouring itself in ugly, spiteful recriminations. …

At the heart of this intramural conflict is the fact that society has changed dramatically in recent decades, but the GOP has refused to change with it. Americans are rapidly shifting toward more tolerant understandings of personal behavior and social values, but the Republican Party sticks with retrograde social taboos and hard-edged prejudices about race, gender, sexual freedom, immigration, and religion. Plus, it wants to do away with big government (or so it claims).

The party establishment, including business and financial leaders, seems to realize that Republicans need to moderate their outdated posture on social issues. But they can’t persuade their own base — especially Republicans in the white South — to change. …

Nixon’s “Southern strategy” was cynical, of course, but it was an effective electoral ploy. Now, however, it is beginning to look like a deal with the devil.

Why the GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’ | BillMoyers.com

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams