New Florida legislation to ban all local government gun control laws should raise a question for voters: Did we elect legislators to protect the gun lobby or to represent Floridians?
LOOKING FOR LIFE BEYOND CABLE NEWS AND FINDING THAT RESISTANCE IS FUTILE
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
- Louis BrandeisTension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
- Chinese ProverbRecent Comments
Whatever Works 
Are you anywhere near Palm Beach County? If so, I’ve got some juicy, juicy dish.
LikeLike
Other side of the state, but I’m always up for juicy!!!
LikeLike
Palm Beach County is apparently the shadiest, corruptest little fiefdom south of the Mason Dixon. I have a friend who has set up a sort of cop Wikileaks. It contains not only a free speech zone for police, prosecutors and other county employees the likes of which I’ve never seen; but a whole section where people can post the documentation to back up their claims.
I’m working on an article about the “Belle Glade Batterer” (his self-title). His co-workers noticed what a scumbag he is and started documenting his Facebook bragging about the beatings he administered at work. As far as I know this is unprecedented. I’m working on making this happen all across the US and A even as we speak. If you want to see the file on the Belle Glade Batterer check out this page
http://docs.pbsotalk.com/PBSO/default.aspx
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, under public records, the .pdf file is called Raban3. SICKENING.
The main site at http://www.pbsotalk.com has a lot of eye-opening information from the people who aren’t allowed to tell you all the secrets they know. Civilians are the only ones who can fix this. We need to get the word out.
XO
LikeLike
Xavier – what a brilliant concept this is! It should be expanded nationally. The thing I worry about most is the increasing militarization of police. And how what was once considered brutality is now viewed in teh context of war, and therefore tolerated more. It’s not just PBC.
A recent death in Fullerton CA has become a national story and even the FBI is looking into it. There are activist groups marching every day in front of the police dept. I don’t know how to insert a video into a comment, but here’s a link to the news story.
LikeLike
I saw that on TYT when it first happened. Sickening. There’s just no excuse for that.
Great minds think alike about the cop wiki thing. My friend and I spent an hour on the phone yesterday discussing the national database idea, and I think we’re on the same page. I had forgotten about Fullerton, but you’re right, that’s an entirely appropriate agency to target. Basically we’re setting up a page with a link for each of the 50 states, where anybody can post anything.
The board we started for Renton, WA (the department I’ve been railing about on my blog) has taken off like a rocket. The City of Renton is now at the mercy of people they don’t know, can’t identify, and have zero control over. Worse yet, we’re not committing any crime, and there’s nothing they can do about it. It’s still legal to set up anonymous chat boards and express opinions on the internet, even if the government doesn’t like it.
Go check out http://www.pbso.com. If you scroll through you’ll see all kinds of interesting stuff. Check out the IAD reports on their document portal.
XO
LikeLike
Hey look!!! My video posted; I had no idea!
Antoher disturbing and new thing is police arresting people for filming or taping them – and doing it from the person’s own property. Usually has to do with police misconduct. No court has upheld any of this, but perhaps it’s just a matter of time . . .
LikeLike
Honestly I think if we can just set up a mechanism for ethical police officers to sound off about what’s bothering them, without sacrificing their careers, they’ll guide the discourse in a way that will be satisfying for everyone.
It’s a subtle distinction, especially so for civilians; it’s important that we let the officers guide the conversation. Their concerns have to be addressed first. The powers that be pit both ends (the citizens and the rank and file) against the middle. If we can make a connection, where officers can inform citizens, our bosses, who answer only to citizens, are at our mercy. This is how we can have responsive, community oriented policing.
XO
LikeLike
Again, this is a such a solid idea. I can imagine it would work quite well in other areas too – government waste, medical malpractice. Stuff that, like police brutality, is protected by an omerta thing and gets far too little attention.
LikeLike