In a cap she looked much older
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man
------Lovely Rita (Lennon/McCartney)
I respect the response of DD, a formerly armed U.S. Park Ranger, concerning the recent shooting to death of an unruly camper at Crater Lake N.P., as possibly being warranted under the circumstances.
Upon further reflection I began to reconsider whether firing shots from a powerful hand gun, in a densely filled campground, was such a good idea in the first place.? Why were there no tasers available? And I ask again, would a wild and wooly bear have been shot as quickly, without "the work team" at least contemplating other options? Why are only high caliber hand guns the principal weapons available for the relatively peaceful clientele the rangers would normally host in their campground?
When NPS rangers are required to qualify or re-certify for their law enforcement "commissions" they shoot at a silhouette of a man and aim for his heart, not the shoulder or leg. You won't pass the test if you're only hitting those. These are COPS not rangers. It seems that COPS are now everywhere, getting in our faces, hands on their over-sized weapons as they inch their way towards my car window looking for any provocation to search the entire vehicle or maybe ending up having to shoot me.
The, supposedly, undercover "drug task force" has been operating in the resort town I work in, for the past few weeks. They've been pulling everyone over and then acting overbearing and arrogant. Their haul so far? A poor penniless hippie caught with a pot pipe and a small piece of paper with traces of cocaine on it. Thanks be to God you've saved us from this scourge Big Brutha! Meantime the driver of the car the hippie was arrested in had no vehicle registration or insurance but was not cited! Who is the bigger threat to society: the hippie with a pipe and some paper with coca powder on it or an unregistered, uninspected, un-insured truck recklessly barreling down the road with a brain dead idiot behind the wheel? The COPS, it seems, aren't even doing their real job protecting the community, but are using traffic laws to open the door for finding illegal drugs and contraband. This is their "higher calling" on our behalf. The sheeple of the village mostly went along with this bullying as something that would be unwise to oppose out loud.
Did you know that illegal drug users are the new Jews in Herr Bush's Amerika?
More about that and the police state that is the U.S.A. in my next blog.
What will you do if we let you go home,
And the plastics all melted,
And so is the chrome?
WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE?
-------Who Are The Brain Police? (FZ & The Mothers)
8 comments:
This sort of thing really hit me when I was watching an episode of COPS. The police were planting bicycles in the poorest part of New Orleans, wouldl wait for someone to steal the bikes and then arrest them.
The same episode also had undercover police officers selling drugs to drunk college students at Mardi Gras and then arresting them. I honestly don't don't get how this is legal.
It's all bullshit and to me our police forces have become nothing more than another branch of government whose purpose is to generate revenue.
Prisons are touted by Big Brother to rural communities as good honest economic development. With over 50% of the convicts in the U.S. prison population being drug offenders these are the easy arrests that facilitates the perpetual harvesting of individuals necessary to keep these large penal colonies filled.
What is more dangerous: a half-gallon of Johnny Walker Red or a joint? Or of cocaine for that matter? A half-gallon of Johnny Red could kill a whole lot more people way quicker than either of the other two substances on the very first try.
Is it because Big Brudda gets a cut that I can buy a case of Johnny Red whenever I want but can have my property confiscated and then be imprisoned for growing some weed? Or having certain types of guns? Or accidentally killing certain "threatened" species of animals on your private property? Or resisting imminent domain?
Beamis,
You've hit on something. The confiscation laws in relation to drug busts is a perverse incentive for the cops. They can take your car, your house, etc. Even if you're found innocent, it's still difficult to get your property back.
It's nothing more than a shakedown to generate revenue. The mob would love to have a gig like that.
Oh, boy, am I going to stick my neck out here. Hello, I met you at your restaurant a short while back while my husband, son, and his friend were there. We exchanged blogs, remember? Anyway, your writings remind me of myself when I was younger. I appreciate your prespectives on society. Believe it or not, I am a Bush Backer. I don't blame him. I blame the whole consciousness of the world wanting to fight fire with fire. I also blame Hollywood for their glorification of violence and all the heroes are buff dudes that kill. I share your concerns though. My brother had a run-in with Dallas cops a while back, something he didn't deserve. One cop was wearing black gloves. In Austin recently a young, 17 year old black man was shot dead by police. Last year, a mentally ill, menatlly retarded, black woman wash shot dead as she threatened her landlord, who she had a hold of, with a butcher knife. The cop was exonerated. Like you, I wonder, why did they shoot to kill? Why not just wound? And now our park rangers are called to kill for a domestic disturbance caused by a psycho on drugs? Why not just wound the guy? It saddens me. I was a child of the '60's, but now I am middle aged. I've seen enough to know that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal....PS I enjoy your writing. kb
Beamis, you got a resaurant?
Kitty Bo,
I sympathize with your thoughts that cops should "shoot to wound," but there are a few reasons why this is next to impossible.
One, humans just aren't that good to be able to purposely shoot to wound. It may happen accidentally, but not on purpose.
Two, the accuracy of a shooter drops dramatically(almost in half)in a live fire situation as compared to a shooting range situation. Therefore, cops are trained to aim for high, center-mass, which usually means the torso. This is always potentially lethal.
Third, using a lethal weapon always carries the possibility of death.
So, the other option is to use non-lethal weapons. The only ones I'm aware of are night sticks, pepper spray, tasers and stun guns. I've also heard of non-lethal weapons in development such as a gun that shoots a net to subdue a criminal and a foam spray that, when sprayed around the hands and arms, expands to where the criminal loses use of their limbs.
This is not a flip remark - the only option would be some weapon like the old phasers on Star Trek that could be set to "stun" or "kill." Realistically, lethal force is sometimes necessary. I wouldn't be surprised if something like this is developed in the near future. However, these non-lethal weapons are only practical if the criminal is in close proximity and is not using a hostage as a shield.
Kitty Bo-----thanks for your thoughts and DD was a commisioned park ranger, so he seems to know what he's talking about concerning the proper methods of shooting a club weilding camper.
Beamis,
Your Star Trek phaser is closer to reality than you may think.
http://www.impactlab.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5909
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