This press release from the Prince George's County Police Department describes an incident in that jurisdiction that resulted in the death of a handcuffed arrestee in the front seat of a patrol car. While the circumstances of this event are rather unusual in some respects, its most notable aspect is one that's common to the majority of police-produced fatalities, the application of life-saving efforts after the shooting.
The victim was shot seven times. In many cases, perhaps most cases, officers fire their weapons at their targets until their ammunition is exhausted. In any event, seven bullet holes produced by a trained officer from close range should be enough to produce death almost immediately. In fact, one shot would probably be sufficient to immobilize, if not kill, almost anyone.
Be that as it may, if the objective is to kill someone by multiple gun shots, which must indeed be the objective, why are life-saving measures quickly applied thereafter?
There are a few possible explanations for this odd state of affairs. Police departments might feel that it would seem callous of them to incapacitate a suspect by a serious wound and then refuse to treat them in the few short moments remaining of their life. In other words, it's an effort to retain the "protect and serve" image law enforcement attempts to project to the public.
Maybe it's meant to provide practice for ambulance crews and hospital trauma units. Unlikely.
While the officer responsible for the death will be taken off of his normal patrol duties and made to perform surveillance at a desk until some ceremonial investigation is completed, other, uninvolved officers will rejoice in the fact that the public has once again been informed that refusing to comply with the directions of a public employee can result in immediate death.
Actually, the most logical rationale for this procedure is probably department policy, which would require medical attention being called for the victim of any mishap. Once the cartridge cases are empty and the target immobilized, what is the next step? The body can't be left where it is, the officers can't get in their car and drive away. There are steps that must be followed. Hearses aren't dispatched to accident scenes, ambulances are.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Sunday, January 26, 2020
How Much Solar Power Does The US Need?
If the US wishes to replace its nasty coal-fired electrical generation complex and scary nuclear facilities, along with riverine hydropower, it needs to come up with about 4 million Gwh of power from other sources, according to these folks. If the source is solar power just how much area of solar panels would be needed?
Here are the numbers:
Total acres of solar panels: 11,200,000
Total square miles of solar panels: 17,500
What this means is the solar panels needed to supply the current US demand for electricity would cover an area almost exactly equal to the area of Estonia. The area would be larger than the area of Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland or Belgium.
Here are the numbers:
Total acres of solar panels: 11,200,000
Total square miles of solar panels: 17,500
What this means is the solar panels needed to supply the current US demand for electricity would cover an area almost exactly equal to the area of Estonia. The area would be larger than the area of Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland or Belgium.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
The New Most Popular Proper Noun In American Discourse Is . . .Ukraine.
The teapot tempest that is the Trump impeachment trial in the US Senate chambers has brought never-before, almost continuous media reference to a place that few Yankees were aware existed and couldn't find on a map. This is, of course, Ukraine.
Go ahead, point out the country that is Ukraine. For a bonus, name any Ukrainian city other than Kiev (or Kyiv).
So what's the meaning of all this attention to a relatively mysterious place in Eurasia? Most importantly, the great American scheme of things rates importance based on economic and political factors. Ukraine has no oil. Why would Americans have an interest in a place that can't provide fuel for their Volvo station wagon or Toyota Corolla? Other Ukrainian contributions to the world are similarly limited, being mostly recipes for good sausage, if not the sausages themselves. Canada is a notable exception in that there is a large and happy Ukrainian immigrant population in the western portion of the Dominion.
The reason that elements of the US political machinery have concerns about events in Ukraine is, of course, its proximity to Russia. Despite being an ally of crucial importance in WWII and no longer a force for the dissemination of communism world-wide, Russia remains the epicenter of evil on earth. Satan's henchman, Vladimir Putin, has dedicated his life and that of his countrymen to the enslavement of the free and productive Yankee population. It's imperative that the US maintain an adversary relationship between the Russian bear and the Ukrainian whatever-he-is, simply to occupy Putin's devilish mentality, if nothing else.
This feeling was dramatically expressed a few days ago in the somber US senate chambers by US representative Adam Schiff, who said, “The United States aids Ukraine and her people so that we can fight Russia over there so we don’t have to fight Russia here.”
Go ahead, point out the country that is Ukraine. For a bonus, name any Ukrainian city other than Kiev (or Kyiv).
So what's the meaning of all this attention to a relatively mysterious place in Eurasia? Most importantly, the great American scheme of things rates importance based on economic and political factors. Ukraine has no oil. Why would Americans have an interest in a place that can't provide fuel for their Volvo station wagon or Toyota Corolla? Other Ukrainian contributions to the world are similarly limited, being mostly recipes for good sausage, if not the sausages themselves. Canada is a notable exception in that there is a large and happy Ukrainian immigrant population in the western portion of the Dominion.
The reason that elements of the US political machinery have concerns about events in Ukraine is, of course, its proximity to Russia. Despite being an ally of crucial importance in WWII and no longer a force for the dissemination of communism world-wide, Russia remains the epicenter of evil on earth. Satan's henchman, Vladimir Putin, has dedicated his life and that of his countrymen to the enslavement of the free and productive Yankee population. It's imperative that the US maintain an adversary relationship between the Russian bear and the Ukrainian whatever-he-is, simply to occupy Putin's devilish mentality, if nothing else.
This feeling was dramatically expressed a few days ago in the somber US senate chambers by US representative Adam Schiff, who said, “The United States aids Ukraine and her people so that we can fight Russia over there so we don’t have to fight Russia here.”
Thursday, January 23, 2020
City of Minneapolis Settles Human Rights Complaint With $170,000 Payout
In July of 2018 a 911 was made to the Minneapolis Police that resulted in a squad being sent to Minnehaha Park, according to this story. Officers encountered four apparently Somali youths, aged 13-16, ordered them face down on the ground with their hands behind their backs, and handcuffed them.
An eyewitness to the whole affair took a video of the confrontation and informed the officers that the youths had been threatened by another party, one of whom apparently made the 911 call. The youth were put in a squad car, but rather than driven home, were let out on the street. Their parents were never contacted and the boys weren’t charged.
Officer Mathew Ryan was eventually suspended for two days for his part in the arrest. Police body cam footage of the incident was released. Each of the boys will receive $40,000 from the city and $10,000 will go to the Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota (CAIR-MN).
Minneapolis Park Board
An eyewitness to the whole affair took a video of the confrontation and informed the officers that the youths had been threatened by another party, one of whom apparently made the 911 call. The youth were put in a squad car, but rather than driven home, were let out on the street. Their parents were never contacted and the boys weren’t charged.
Officer Mathew Ryan was eventually suspended for two days for his part in the arrest. Police body cam footage of the incident was released. Each of the boys will receive $40,000 from the city and $10,000 will go to the Council of American-Islamic Relations Minnesota (CAIR-MN).
Minneapolis Park Board
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Holy City
Ever wonder about the term "Holy City" almost always used in media items concerning Qom in Iran, Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and other, usually Muslim majority cities? What determines a "holy city"?
The ever-reliable Wikipedia entry on the topic uses this definition:
A Holy City is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religion and/or chambers of the religious leadership's offices) which constitutes a major destination of human traffic, or pilgrimage to the city, especially for major ceremonies and observances. A holy city is a symbolic city, representing attributes beyond its natural characteristics. Marketing experts have suggested that holy cities may be the oldest brands, and more specifically, place brands because they have value added via the perception of religious adherents.[1]
The list of cities that follows this entry includes not only Mecca, Medina and Qom but also centers of religion like Baltimore, Mexico City, Clearwater, FL and Madrid, most of which are said to be holy to Roman Catholics.
If one asked a resident of Baltimore if he regarded the decaying center of Chesapeake Bay commerce as "holy", what do you suppose his response might be? Does living in a " holy city" provide spiritual benefits that an ordinary, secular municipality like Omaha or Denver cannot?
When the city of Qom is mentioned in the Iran media or Mecca in the Arab counterpart, are they proceeded by a term in the local language that corresponds to "holy"? When an Iranian newspaper runs an article about some disaster in Baltimore do they describe the home of the Orioles and Ravens as a "holy city" or a place that worships birds? Does the sanctification of Baltimore give its sports teams an advantage over less sacred burgs like Minneapolis and Seattle?
The ever-reliable Wikipedia entry on the topic uses this definition:
A Holy City is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religion and/or chambers of the religious leadership's offices) which constitutes a major destination of human traffic, or pilgrimage to the city, especially for major ceremonies and observances. A holy city is a symbolic city, representing attributes beyond its natural characteristics. Marketing experts have suggested that holy cities may be the oldest brands, and more specifically, place brands because they have value added via the perception of religious adherents.[1]
The list of cities that follows this entry includes not only Mecca, Medina and Qom but also centers of religion like Baltimore, Mexico City, Clearwater, FL and Madrid, most of which are said to be holy to Roman Catholics.
If one asked a resident of Baltimore if he regarded the decaying center of Chesapeake Bay commerce as "holy", what do you suppose his response might be? Does living in a " holy city" provide spiritual benefits that an ordinary, secular municipality like Omaha or Denver cannot?
When the city of Qom is mentioned in the Iran media or Mecca in the Arab counterpart, are they proceeded by a term in the local language that corresponds to "holy"? When an Iranian newspaper runs an article about some disaster in Baltimore do they describe the home of the Orioles and Ravens as a "holy city" or a place that worships birds? Does the sanctification of Baltimore give its sports teams an advantage over less sacred burgs like Minneapolis and Seattle?
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Arizona Mountain Lions Given the Death Penalty
Three mountain lions were executed a few miles from the University of Arizona campus in Tucson on Tuesday morning, New Years Eve. The feline trio were found to be feeding on the remains of an unidentified human, probably a hiker on the popular Pima Canyon trail, although authorities say there is no evidence to show that the person was actually killed by the cats.
The reasoning behind the killings was as usual. By feeding on human flesh, the mountain lions would acquire a taste for it and expand their diet to easily butchered men, women and children. Having some rudimentary form of communication with others of their species, it would be possible for these magnificent but evil carnivores to pass along the knowledge of human cuisine to them. Best idea is to just nip that in the bud.
It wouldn't make sense to stipulate that perhaps, as in other cases, there is an element of punishment involved. The cats ate a person. Wisconsin serial killers are incarcerated for that kind of behavior but would be shot if the law permitted it. Locking up the cougars, if they could even be captured alive, would be impractical. A zoo made up of man-eating carnivores might not appeal to the soccer mom contingent.
Leaving the remains of any mammal lying around is likely to attract almost any carnivore. If not the mountain lions, skunks, weasels, crows and vultures would, and in fact, probably did, gather a snack two from mr. or mrs. dead human. Nobody is looking for crows with human flesh on their breath, however. Nobody is worried about being killed by a crow.
HuffingtonPost.com
But a mountain lion not only needs to watch its step around hikers, making a meal of a pet is also verboten. This cat, maybe, was feeding on a mixed-breed dog near bucolic Cascade, Idaho. It might be careless to let your beloved doggy family member roam about in cougar country but if it fails to return home it's not your fault. The problem is the cat, who should know that he's not to eat Lassie.
The reasoning behind the killings was as usual. By feeding on human flesh, the mountain lions would acquire a taste for it and expand their diet to easily butchered men, women and children. Having some rudimentary form of communication with others of their species, it would be possible for these magnificent but evil carnivores to pass along the knowledge of human cuisine to them. Best idea is to just nip that in the bud.
It wouldn't make sense to stipulate that perhaps, as in other cases, there is an element of punishment involved. The cats ate a person. Wisconsin serial killers are incarcerated for that kind of behavior but would be shot if the law permitted it. Locking up the cougars, if they could even be captured alive, would be impractical. A zoo made up of man-eating carnivores might not appeal to the soccer mom contingent.
Leaving the remains of any mammal lying around is likely to attract almost any carnivore. If not the mountain lions, skunks, weasels, crows and vultures would, and in fact, probably did, gather a snack two from mr. or mrs. dead human. Nobody is looking for crows with human flesh on their breath, however. Nobody is worried about being killed by a crow.
But a mountain lion not only needs to watch its step around hikers, making a meal of a pet is also verboten. This cat, maybe, was feeding on a mixed-breed dog near bucolic Cascade, Idaho. It might be careless to let your beloved doggy family member roam about in cougar country but if it fails to return home it's not your fault. The problem is the cat, who should know that he's not to eat Lassie.
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