Don’t trust the police

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Michael

I tell people time and time again, don’t talk to the cops. If an officer has pulled you over, or has terry stopped you, or otherwise has you detained, you two are not friends. That cop is not there to help you. Giving him more information than what is legally required of you – usually just your name and address – will only help his record look a little better when his annual review comes around.

But people don’t want to believe me. When online I can just point them to my post advising them not to talk to the cops, but I don’t have that luxury in person. It’s frustrating. Everyone believes they can talk their way out of any situation. “B-but if I just get a chance to tell my side of the story, I’ll be fine!” No, you won’t. Remember when ex-politician and current beautiful hair model Rod Blagojevich had close to two dozen charges against him? He was showboating and proclaiming about his day in court. Boy was he going to show the government what was what! And then the government put on a terrible case, failing to prove Blagojevich guilty of almost everything. Needless to say, the man didn’t take the stand – it doesn’t pay to say more than what must be said. But he was found guilty of one count: lying to the FBI. He had made the mistake of talking to agents before his lawyers could get him to shut the hell up.

Which brings me to an excellent article from the law blog Popehat:

Is there ever a situation where, by being friendly and cooperative and answering questions, you can deflect government suspicion or satisfy their concerns without charges? Yes. Very rarely, there is. And when the government comes knocking, they count on you grasping at the hope that this is one of those times. Don’t be a fool. If there’s a chance that cooperation will satisfy the authorities today, there will still be a chance in a day or a week or a month after you’ve consulted a lawyer who understands the situation. When you answer law enforcements’ questions — especially when you do it in a stressful situation like a search — you take grave risks of substantially worsening your situation.

Read the entire post and it’s obvious the given scenario is one most of us will never experience. But that isn’t the point. The most law-abiding among us is plenty likely to encounter a cop that wants to ask us questions. And most of us would probably answer everything plenty blindly. But don’t. That cop is not your friend, he doesn’t want to help you, and it will not benefit you to talk to him.

But maybe you’re worried about looking guilty. If you don’t talk, that will only raise suspicions, right? Maybe. But how many prosecutors have given the closing statement, “And so the defendant was silent when questioned. I think you know what that means. I rest my case.”?

Keep your mouth shut.

Filed under: Politics and Social | Tagged: , , , | 61 Comments »

At least LePage isn’t pretending he doesn’t mean the Christian god

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Michael

Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, has declared August 6 to be a day of prayer and fasting:

WHEREAS, in times of trouble, even those who have been granted power by the people must turn to God in humility for wisdom, mercy and direction. In the spirit of the Book of Joel, Chapter 2, Verses 15-16, I urge a solemn gathering of prayer and fasting. As those verses admonish: “15Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly … 16 Gather

the people, consecrate the assembly… “As Jesus prayed publicly for the benefit of others in

John II :41-42, so should we express our faith in this way.

NOW, THEREFORE, I PAUL R. LEPAGE, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim

August 6th as

A Day of Prayer and Fasting for Our Nation

This is highly exclusionary and a misuse of public office. LePage cannot constitutionally use the government of Maine to endorse a day of prayer. (The fasting will be good for him and other Mainers of his girth, though.) The only positive thing that can be taken from this is that at least LePage is being honest and not pretending like he’s declaring a day for all religions. It’s pretty obvious he just means his.

Filed under: Local | Tagged: , , | 6 Comments »

And just one more thing

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Michael

Peter Falk, dead at 83.

Filed under: News | Tagged: , , | 3 Comments »

Equality in New York

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Michael

Equality has passed in New York:

New York lawmakers narrowly voted to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.

New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.

“We are leaders and we join other proud states that recognize our families and the battle will now go on in other states,” said Sen. Thomas Duane, a Democrat…

The New York bill cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate on a 33-29 vote. The Democrat-led Assembly, which passed a different version last week, is expected to pass the new version with stronger religious exemptions and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who campaigned on the issue last year, has promised to sign it. Same-sex couples can begin marrying begin 30 days after that.

Good.

Filed under: News, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: , , | 4 Comments »

Violating the constitution is costly

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Michael

Time and time again school boards (usually in the south) will vote to keep some religious relic alive. Whether it be the ability to lead students in prayer or keeping a pledge to God alive in a school oath, heavily Christian school boards are all too often attempting to weasel their particular cultural religion into the classroom. And, of course, the ACLU will come along and say, “Hey, that’s stupid. Knock it off or we’ll sue – and you know we’ll win.” And, of course, all too often the school will hold its ground with the backing of voters and parents who don’t understand the constitution. And once the ACLU sues and wins, there is a great financial burden placed upon the districts:

These costs can be considerable. In McCreary and Pulaski counties in Kentucky, someone got the bright idea to post the Commandments at the local courthouses back in 1999. The ACLU warned officials that they were going to get sued. County officials refused to listen (and all the voters said, “Amen!”). The ACLU sued, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the counties lost.

The case has dragged on, and now these counties have been handed a bill for $456,881 to pay the ACLU’s legal costs. The insurance provider doesn’t cover expenses like this, so what to do? Well, McCreary County – a poverty-stricken rural community of about 17,000 residents – has been reduced to begging. The McCreary County Record reported that the county has set up an account at a local bank for donations. Judge-Executive Doug Stephens was excited because a $100 check arrived the other day. (Only $456,781 to go!)

I know these people think it’s okay to force their religion onto others, using public money to promote whatever little god happens to be fashionable right now in human history – in fact, I’m sure they think it’s downright righteous – but they have to know they’ll lose. I mean, yes, the U.S. education system isn’t very good, and yes, it’s at its worst in the south, but I honestly doubt these people are so stupid as to believe they’ll win. No, there’s something that’s fooling them:

Meanwhile, [Board member J.B.] Buckland said he and Superintendent Terry Arbogast had consulted attorneys at the Liberty Counsel. The conservative Christian legal group will represent the school board pro bono if the district faces a legal battle.

Short of calling these people outright stupid – I do not believe that they are – this is the best answer I can muster for why they would bother picking this fight. They can only be hoping against hope that they win (if they even believe that) and have no fees to pay, but it’s just so silly. There are millions of Americans who care whether or not their money gets spent endorsing religion. (If the money was being used to endorse Islam or atheism, there would be several hundred more million who cared.) There will always be a fight to first uphold pretty basic constitutional standards and second (though I think it should be first) to make sure religion stays at bay and in the churches and synagogues. I know it’s suppose to be some great thing that Jesus basically committed suicide, but these people aren’t Jesus. There’s no need to financially crucify themselves.

Filed under: Politics and Social, Religions | Tagged: , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Tech impaired duck is an old duck

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Michael

Filed under: Humor | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

Look what happens when you ignore her

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Michael

She fades away:

Amid diminishing media interest, Sarah Palin has quit her high-profile bus tour halfway through and returned to Alaska with her family, according to RealClearPolitics.

The move puts a damper on widespread speculations that Palin’s “One Nation” bus tour, which launched on Memorial Day, was a precursor to a potential White House bid for 2012. Palin never made it to her scheduled stops in the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

RealClearPolitics, which originally broke the story about the bus tour, reported Wednesday on Palin’s “extended hiatus.” The remaining legs of her trip, according to Scott Conroy, are “in limbo” as “Palin and her family have reverted to the friendly confines of summertime Alaska.”

Jon Stewart had a recent interview on FOX Noise where his take-away point was that the media loves sensationalism. Combine that with lazy reporting and we get all this useless coverage of people like Sarah Palin. Ever since John McCain failed to vet her, her career has been about being a slightly-legitimized sort of reality show star – that legitimacy coming almost purely from the media’s unending attention.

I just hope she keeps refusing to tell reporters her schedule, or why she’s doing something, or any other detail of her itinerary. The more the quitter gets ignored, the better.

Filed under: Politics and Social | Tagged: , | 10 Comments »

I don’t watch Hentai…

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Michael

…but I was thinking the same thing.

Filed under: Humor | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Medicaid patients get screwed

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Michael

And now they have no birth control to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancies:

Thousands of low-income Planned Parenthood of Indiana patients were left fending for themselves Tuesday to pay for birth control, breast exams, Pap tests and other medical services while a court battle continued over a new state law that eliminated the organization’s Medicaid funding…

Nicole Robbins, a 31-year-old single mother who has been a Planned Parenthood client for six years, said she had intended to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic in Indianapolis on Tuesday to pick up a 2-month supply of birth control pills. Then, the Medicaid recipient learned that the more than $100,000 in private donations the group had raised since May 10 had dried up.

Given that we know what Planned Parenthood actually does, this law has been designed in a way that is primarily going to hurt the poor for no good reason. In fact, why wouldn’t this increase abortions? If a person can hardly afford birth control, the rate of protected individuals is going to drop. And when some of those women get pregnant, it’s often going to make more sense to scrape together the cash in order to get an abortion. Think about it. In the first situation the choice is birth control and no or little cushion money or no birth control and a little money. People will take the latter risk. In the second situation the choice is pay for a child for the next 18 years or pay for an abortion. Some women who otherwise would not be pregnant will take the second option. This increases abortion.

And I’m fine with that. Cells with potential are not humans. If that were the case, sperm and eggs would be humans – That people wish to pick an arbitrary level of potential does not a human make. But it looks like Indiana wants to interfere with science:

The Medicaid de-funding measure took effect the same day that Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the law. But other provision of the law that gives the state some of the nation’s tightest restrictions on abortions won’t take effect until July 1.

Those include a ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy unless there is a substantial threat to the woman’s life or health and a requirement that doctors ensure women seeking an abortion are told that life begins at conception.

Oh, well, if Indiana lawmakers declare something to be so, then clearly it is. This reminds me of that myth of some state legislature, perhaps Ohio, declaring that Pi equals exactly 3.14. Except this time the scientific intrusion is real.

Filed under: News | Tagged: , , | 18 Comments »

New warning labels for cigarettes

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Michael

I would much rather see a phasing out of the sale of cigarettes, but this will do for now:

Rotting teeth. Diseased lungs. A corpse of a smoker. Nine new warning labels featuring graphic images that convey the dangers of smoking will be required by the Food and Drug Administration to be on U.S. cigarette packs by 2012.

Other images include a man with a tracheotomy smoking and a mother holding a baby with smoke swirling around them. The labels will include phrases like “Smoking can kill you” and “Cigarettes cause cancer.”

The labels, which the FDA released Tuesday, are a part of the most significant change to U.S. cigarette packs in 25 years. They’re aimed at curbing tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths in the U.S. a year.

Filed under: News | Tagged: , , | 8 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »