Somebody Stop This Monster

Bush vows to 60 Minutes that 'no matter what Congress wants' surge is on

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Update: Jaywalking in Atlanta

From the BBC:

Officer Leonpacher told him he was under arrest and, the professor claims, kicked his legs from under him, pinned him to the ground and confiscated his box of peppermints.

Confiscated his peppermints.

This proves what I was saying the other day (as if further proof were needed.) The mentality and level of maturity of the average Atlanta police officer is roughly that of a child, a disturbed child--a spoilt, bratty, cowardly little schoolyard bully who beats up the smaller boys for their lunch money, or in this case, candy. How pathetic.

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Zero Tolerance for Jaywalkers

(via Boing-Boing):

Evidently the Atlanta police have decided it would be best not to shoot old ladies, for a while at least. Maybe after some time has passed and the controversy has cooled off somewhat, they can return to that sport. But, in the meantime, how should they spend their time? Fighting real crime is out of the question, of course. So, now they are zealously enforcing the jaywalking laws.

One jaywalker, for instance, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, a distinguished historian attending the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, was caught crossing in the middle of a street yesterday, and when he asked for the officer's identification was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, roughed up, and thrown into Atlanta’s infamously filthy and dangerous city jail for eight hours. Above is a photo of the incident. Notice eight officers responded to the call. My, my, what a bunch of pussy willows the Atlanta police must be, that it should take eight of them to handle one jaywalker. More evidence that we live in a Sissy Pants Nation.

Oh, when did this nation go wrong? When did our policemen cease to be heroes willing to risk life and limb to protect the weak from genuine criminals? When did they become schoolyard bullies, Butch McTuffies who instead prey on the weak, beating up the smaller boys for their lunch money, grinding their eyeglasses into the dirt, yet running and hiding and pissing in fear when a worthier opponent happens along? When, oh when, did Mr. Policeman become a worthless thug, a craven coward, a loathsome load of pure, unadulterated scum? When, oh when, did it happen?

“Our job ith tho difficult,” they lisp, “we are in thuch danger out there on thtreet, we need more weaponth, we need more gunth, we need more Tatherth, we need more teargath, we need more nightthtickth, and more handcuffth, and more tough lawth to help uth do our job, and more cooperathion from the court thythtem, and we need to get rid of the Conthtituthion and that nathty old Bill of Rightth that ith making our jobth tho difficult, but motht of all we need more copth, there are thimply not enough of uth out there on the thtreet to fight all the terrible jaywalkerth …” and on and on they whine, and mewl, the Nancy Men, the Sister Boys, the bedwetting babies and petulant brats in uniform who patrol our streets in the Sissy Pants Nation.

O Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants Nation, the cops hide from criminals in the Sissy Pants Nation.

O Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants Nation, the cops beat up jaywalkers in the Sissy Pants Nation.

O Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants Nation, the cops kill old ladies in the Sissy Pants Nation.

O Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants, Sissy Pants Nation, the cops wear lace undies in the Sissy Pants Nation ...

Update

In about an hour, Congress Avenue will be reopened. By that time, roughly 10 hours will have passed since this vital business district was evacuated.

It is also being reported that two police officers on the scene reported feeling ill, but later “turned out to be fine.”

The evacuation resulted in at least one arrest, when a man wandered into the area.

Given the variety of birds affected (sparrows, grackles, pigeons), the likelihood is that they were poisoned.

Air samples indicate the air is fine, or at least no worse than usual.

LINK

More on the Dead Birds

More on the dead birds that were found in downtown Austin this morning …

According to Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke, there is no “credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or Austin at this time.".

Although tests on the birds have not been concluded, authorities say they do not believe Avian Flu was responsible for the deaths. West Nile Virus or poisoning were suggested as possible causes.

Meanwhile, Congress Avenue will remain closed until at least noon. The closure has caused all businesses along the street to be closed. The state capitol, however, is open. Today is the day before the beginning of the legislative session.

As this news story notes, there was also a scare in New York City this morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across the city.

Breaking News: Dead Birds in Downtown Austin

There is a peculiar news story breaking here in Austin as I write this. Dozens of dead birds were found downtown in the early morning hours along a ten-block stretch of Congress Avenue, starting from Cesar Chavez Street and ending at the Texas State Capitol. The capitol is about a ten-minute walk to the south of my present location.

According to the most recent report, the area has been closed to the public while tests are conducted to audit the air quality. Apparently no dead birds have been found on other streets.

The sky is clear today. Earlier this morning I noticed a chemtrail running east to west, but it has since dissipated. As of a few minutes ago, the only thing in the sky was a jet plane leaving a normal contrail.

I am experiencing a sore throat and flu-like tiredness this morning. However, I had the same symptoms yesterday and have no reason to believe it is anything other than one of the usual bugs that go around this time of year. But, you never know …