May 4, 2013

Last Monday, I was speaking with someone about the upcoming May Day festivities. “Seattle doesn’t have riots”, I told him, “we have hissy fits.” Shortly before the protests started, I explained to another person, “Seattle riots are different than most. Here, there’ll be 100 white guys with $5,000 cameras trying to make...

Apr 27, 2013

After watching the above video, you may come to the conclusion that the answer is “yes”. This is where we are as a society folks.  A point where the guy in a superhero costume officially makes more rational, logical sense than does the Mayor, the Chief of Police, and every bobble-headed human teleprompter on every “news” station in...

Jan 30, 2013

In the last few months, I’ve had a few emails, not to mention a few real-life conversations, expressing surprise that I have not touched on a subject. That subject, is the legalization of marijuana in the State of Washington. It was generally assumed (correctly) that I supported legalization, and some folks are stumped by my lack of enthusiasm over the...

Dec 15, 2012

Shock. When a colleague came into my office yesterday and told me to read the news, that was my reaction, along with disgust, disbelief, anger, sadness, and sympathy. The intellectual side of my brain realized that I was being a hypocrite.  After all, I’d read about the deaths of innocent civilians, including children, at the hands of our troops, on many...

Nov 28, 2012

Another day, another SPD scandal. There have been several in the past few months, but for the most part, I’ve tried to just ignore them. Nothing can be done, really. There’s little probability of change. There’s little support for change. John Diaz remains Chief of Police, and Mayor McGinn … a mayor I used to support … is...

Aug 5, 2012

Last week, I hopped the ferry for my usual 35 minute journey back to Seattle. When I got on and peered out the window, I noticed something unusual. There was a Coast Guard boat with a machine gun mounted at the front, and behind the gun was a man ready to shoot someone or something. Since we were nowhere near a national border, one can only assume that those...

Apr 28, 2012

I’ve been having a running argument in my forums with a guy over gun rights. He thinks all guns should be taken away from people, and I think that everyone needs to be their own police officers. Today, courtesy of the SPD, my own stance was hardened. As I was filming a “War on Women Rally” (more on that later), I heard a commotion coming from...

Mar 30, 2012

After being called upon to investigate abuses by the Seattle Police Department, four months ago, the Department of Justice released a report which excoriated the SPD over its civil rights violations. This week, Mayor Mike McGinn finally issued his response — a response which consists of a 20-point plan designed to address the DOJ’s concerns. Those...

Feb 20, 2012

On Friday, I was driving down Western Avenue, minding my own business, when the email app on my Galaxy Tab chimed. “Oh good!”, I thought, “My penis pump has finally shipped!” Since I couldn’t actually read the email, it was just an assumption. Obviously, I would need to verify the contents of the correspondence. Being a...

Feb 7, 2012

February 7th, 2012, 3:30pm, jumper on the Aurora Bridge, suicide fence be damned. SPD rolls response, no guns drawn, no tasers, no batons, no beatings … just a friendly hand, some encouraging words, and an ambulance ride to Harborview. Crisis averted. For now. I’ve been hard on the SPD lately. We all have. Today, however, I was reminded that boys...

Feb 5, 2012

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Weekly ran an article which I thought was possibly their best piece … ever. It’s called ‘Ripped Apart’, and you can read it here: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-01-18/news/ripped-apart/ Not long after that article was written, today, Josh Powell, a man denied custody of his two children, a man who clearly...

Jan 17, 2012

Remember the shooting referenced in this post? Well, as it turns out, the man who was shot by a Federal Way police officer last week did not have a weapon. Supposedly, unidentified “drug paraphernalia” was found in the car, but no actual drugs or weapons. Another civilian has died because an officer supposedly “feared for her life” in...

Jan 13, 2012

First King County, and now The Feds. Federal prosecutors said Friday that they will not prosecute a Seattle Police Department officer who was involved in the August 30, 2010, fatal shooting of a Native American woodcarver in downtown. The woodcarver, John T. Williams, was carrying a knife and a piece of wood in Seattle. He was ordered to put the knife down by...

Dec 21, 2011

empathy noun the ability to understand and share the feelings of another Another day, another video demonstrating the Seattle Occupation Force’s abject hostility toward the people they have been charged to suppress and control. For those who have yet to see it, I urge you to visit the following...

Dec 19, 2011

“Bitch, give me some water!” “Don’t you dare speak to me like that!” I turned around to find a man and a woman yelling at each other, mere inches from each others’ faces, like two boxers before they touch gloves. “Ah, yet another lover’s quarrel”, I thought to myself. On this morning, last Friday morning to be exact, I stopped by the Queen...

Dec 16, 2011

Nearly a year ago, the Department of Justice was called in to investigate allegations of abuse and civil rights violations at the hands of the Seattle Police Department, and today the DOJ released its report: http://www.king5.com/home/related/DOJ-press-release-on-Seattle-PD-civil-rights-investigation-135742463.html Their conclusions? • Seattle police officers...

Dec 14, 2011

Today, Lowell Elementary School was thrown into lockdown mode as police cars descended on the area — all while a helicopter hovered overhead. Why? Because a very bad man was spotted on school grounds. Read all about it on the Capitol Hill Blog: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2011/12/14/manhunt-locks-down-area-around-lowell-elementary As a parent, and...

Dec 7, 2011

The world is a depressing place these days. Actually, it always has been, but these days especially, the delusion that is the ©American Dream has really lost its potency as an opiate for yours truly. Nowhere have the harsh realities of 21st century America become more evident than in the realm of what we now call “law enforcement”. As a child growing up in...

Nov 15, 2011

Oct 19, 2011

It looks like Occupy Seattle is all but over. At least as far as Westlake Park is concerned. I went by Westlake Park today and the cops outnumbered the protesters. There were maybe a couple dozen people still standing around with signs and about 40 cops making sure those numbers did not grow. I hate to say it, but victory is theirs. The corporations, the...

Oct 15, 2011

Today, security at Westlake Center committed assault and battery upon a man photographing today’s Occupy Seattle Rally. Please read the following account: http://rippdemup.visibli.com/share/wgJF7F I am a person who lives mere blocks from Westlake Center, and I spend a fair share of my meager disposable income in the place – but I will not spend...

Oct 14, 2011

Yesterday, I went by Westlake Park, and I was a bit disheartened to find that the park was still being occupied, only this time, it was being occupied by the police. As I looked at the cop cars lined up on the concrete, I realized that the supposed 99% had been defeated by the supposed 1% yet again. Several months ago, the wives of police officers stood on...

Sep 19, 2011

It’s been a rough summer for bicyclists. We’ve had three high-profile deaths over the last few months, and a few which have received a lessor amount of coverage. In each of these cases, newspaper and TV comment sections have lit up with people blaming the bicyclists for their own deaths. “We’re not getting the real story, I’m sure it was the...

Sep 15, 2011

Yesterday, someone emailed me a link to the following article: http://www.lbpost.com/life/greggory/12188 It outlines the Long Beach Police Department’s policy to detain or arrest photographers who are not exhibiting “regular tourist behavior”. Excerpts follow for continuity, but please go to the above link and click an ad so they get...

Aug 31, 2011

I never really “got” the purpose of mounted police officers. I can’t imagine that they ever really catch criminals, because as soon as the officer jumped off, the horse would run away … trampling innocent bystanders, as the officer ran calling “Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllld Fire!” He’d run calling...