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Post by RS Davis on Apr 12, 2004 14:19:19 GMT -5
The Florentine Boar, the centerpiece of Great Britain's oldest public park, stood for more than 100 years before it was damaged during World War II. A planned refurbishing of the park includes a replica of the statue. But in Derby, where the park is located, members of the city council and community activists have called the statue "divisive" and asked that it not be placed in the park lest it offend area Muslims, who regard pigs as "unclean." More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 16, 2004 1:49:22 GMT -5
Photographers have been barred from taking pictures of female swimmers and divers in their bathing suits at the South Asian Federation games in Pakistan. Photographs of women in bikinis are considered obscene in the Muslim nation, and female athletes must adhere to a strict dress code. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 21, 2004 14:25:13 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Priorities, Priorities[/glow] Police officials in Bel-Ridge, Missouri, say department officials are pressuring them to spend less time catching robbers and more time writing tickets. "When it comes down to it, money is what counts," says a department memo obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "State cases do not generate money for the department. Municipal tickets do." The newspaper says that theme is sounded in several internal department communications it has obtained. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 22, 2004 17:55:21 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Rewards for Good Citizens [/glow] When Daniel Clauson spotted a man apparently trying to jimmy the door of a neighboring building, he called police. But for some reason, officers from the Pinellas Park, Florida, police force came to his home, not the building he told them to go to. When Clauson came out to tell them of their mistake, they ordered him to lie on the ground. Then one officer shot his dog. The police say the dog threatened them. Clauson disputes that, asking the obvious question, "If [the dog] was running at him, why did they shoot him in the side of the head?" More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by dr snootch on Apr 24, 2004 9:29:29 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Rewards for Good Citizens [/glow] When Daniel Clauson spotted a man apparently trying to jimmy the door of a neighboring building, he called police. But for some reason, officers from the Pinellas Park, Florida, police force came to his home, not the building he told them to go to. When Clauson came out to tell them of their mistake, they ordered him to lie on the ground. Then one officer shot his dog. The police say the dog threatened them. Clauson disputes that, asking the obvious question, "If [the dog] was running at him, why did they shoot him in the side of the head?" More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtmlI just read through the entire list of brickbats from the reason online site. Reads like a News of the Weird best of edition. I was dumbfounded by some of the stories and saddened by others. What really flips my skillet, though is police officers with multiple policy violations and illegal activities on their records that continue to be employed as police officers. I'm a network administrator, and I can tell you that if the network I administered went down as many times as some of these officers have been charged with illegal or unethical behavior, I'd flipping burgers at fucking McDonald's right now. In my opinion, police officers should be held to a higher standard of conduct than the average citizen due to the access they have to confidential information and their license to carry a weapon even when not on duty. It fucking pisses me off when cops can stalk and sometimes even rape or rob people and still be trusted to protect and serve the populace. I think the first offense, if minor, should be generally forgiven, official reprimand short suspension without pay, something. After that, all bets should be off. If you're a cop and reasonably shown to have violated police policy or state, local or federal law, your law enforcement license should be revoked. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. No reinstatement available. If you can't be trusted to protect and serve the citizenry without abusing the inherent powers therein, you should have no ability to obtain that position again. Ever. |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 24, 2004 9:58:01 GMT -5
I think the first offense, if minor, should be generally forgiven, official reprimand short suspension without pay, something. After that, all bets should be off. If you're a cop and reasonably shown to have violated police policy or state, local or federal law, your law enforcement license should be revoked. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. No reinstatement available. If you can't be trusted to protect and serve the citizenry without abusing the inherent powers therein, you should have no ability to obtain that position again. Ever. Did you watch Dateline last night? It was about this Satanic cult that killed a girl. I looked over at HotJan and said "This seems like an urban legend to me. I don't buy it." As it turned out, the "team" that was investigating the girl's dissappearance was full of religious whack-jobs. It was like the Salem Witch Trials. Theyfabricated evidence, coerced confessions, abused children, and ignored any evidence that contradicted their Prince of Darkness theory. It even went so far that they got one of the accused to finger the local cop that told them their Satanic theory was all wet. They arrested him for capital murder. Plus 10 other people on 40 different charges. All were innocent. If it weren't for some concerned citizens and the good people at the State Attorney General's office, I have no doubt it would have ended like the Witch Trials. Fucking lunatics should have been arrested. - Rick |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 24, 2004 9:58:58 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Your Kind Isn't Welcome[/glow] Politicians routinely welcome conventioneers to their cities and states. But Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera broke with the routine when one group came to town. Was it pedophiles or neo-Nazis? No, it was a convention of the Atheist Alliance. Rivera admits this was the first time in his 11 months in office he has refused to offer a letter of welcome to a visiting group that requested it. He says the atheists shouldn't have scheduled their convention so close to Easter and Passover. "Just because an organization sends in a request to have a letter from the governor, that doesn't mean a governor has to endorse a particular organization," said a spokeswoman for Owens. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 26, 2004 23:32:56 GMT -5
When a gun was discovered in a bathroom at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, officials feared that someone had slipped it past security. Not quite. Apparently, the gun was accidentally left there by a federal air marshal. Air marshals are allowed to bring guns into airports, but they aren't supposed to leave them there. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 28, 2004 8:04:07 GMT -5
When officials at Connecticut's York Correctional Facility learned that an inmate in a prison rehabilitative writing program had won a national writing award, they took swift action to recognize her achievement. They halted the program, ordered all hard drives used in the program erased and demanded that all disks be turned over to them. That cost several inmates up to five years worth of work. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 28, 2004 19:11:32 GMT -5
Brian Kentwell says he has been pounding livestock and wild animals to death with a hoe. No, he's no sadist. The animals have been injured in Australian irrigation channels. Previously, he would use a firearm to put down dying animals. But when the nation enacted new gun control laws several years ago, the use of firearms for "agricultural" purposes was precluded, and Kentwell had his license revoked as unwarranted. "I found out the appeal had been turned down when the police turned up on my doorstep and demanded the gun," he said. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 29, 2004 20:35:16 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]When Fertilizer Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Grow Crops[/glow] Australia is considering a national ban on a commonly used type of fertilizer as part of a package of anti-terrorism laws. Ammonium nitrate can be used to make explosives. And that worries New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. He says it can't be safely regulated by the states. The National Farmers Federation opposes the move. But the country's largest fertilizer manufacturer has already said it will remove ammonium nitrate from sale because it may be used to make explosives. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by dr snootch on Apr 30, 2004 7:20:16 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]When Fertilizer Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Grow Crops[/glow] Australia is considering a national ban on a commonly used type of fertilizer as part of a package of anti-terrorism laws. Ammonium nitrate can be used to make explosives. And that worries New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. He says it can't be safely regulated by the states. The National Farmers Federation opposes the move. But the country's largest fertilizer manufacturer has already said it will remove ammonium nitrate from sale because it may be used to make explosives. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtmlI don't want to give any irrational politicians any ideas, but can't gasoline also be used to make explosives? Can't, basically, any flammable material be used to make explosives? |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 30, 2004 12:04:26 GMT -5
A Thornton, Colorado, woman says local police officers in a drug task force made her strip and wash herself in a kiddie pool that was only partially hidden behind a tarpaulin. Barbara Adriaens says she was working on homework for an art class in her condominium when police burst in looking for a methamphetamine lab. They found a small amount of meth, but no evidence of a lab. That didn't stop them from "decontaminating" the woman in the kiddie pool. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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Post by RS Davis on Apr 30, 2004 12:05:41 GMT -5
I don't want to give any irrational politicians any ideas, but can't gasoline also be used to make explosives? Can't, basically, any flammable material be used to make explosives? is hardly the place to start making sense...  - Rick |
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Post by RS Davis on May 4, 2004 11:26:50 GMT -5
Kelsey McMillan spent five months at a British air force base, living in officers' quarters, running up a large bar tab and riding on Royal Air Force helicopters on search and rescue missions. That's not unusual for a military doctor, which she claimed to be. But after she transferred to another base, it was discovered that she was actually only a private in the reserves. More brickbats: reason.com/brickbats/bb-2004.shtml |
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