*Not all people with dark skin come from Africa.* *---* *modern scientists agree there is only one human race.* *those who use race for an advantage are to be ignored. * On Monday, July 8, 2013 7:44:57 AM UTC-5, MJ wrote: > > > July 8, 2013 > *How to Tell if You Live in a Police State > *David Galland > > There is a saying that "good fences make good neighbors," and I think > there is some truth to that. In our case, the "fence" between us and our > neighbors while our children were growing up was a patch of woods serving > as a no man's land between our properties. > > Unfortunately, the problems with the neighbors, whom to protect their > identities I will call the Lolos, didn't have to do with fences or even > patches of woods, but about the road running down the side of their > property – the only way in to our small development. You see, even though > they had sold the road easement to the developer, it seemed apparent that > they never expected the road to be built. Regardless, they still considered > the land it ran over as theirs (and, I guess, technically it is). > > Now, I have always tried hard to be a good neighbor, and so soon after > moving in I invited the clan up to our house and plied them with finger > foods topped off with their favorite hooch. While I'm sure that at least a > couple of the Lolos warmed to us, it was always obvious that the rather > domineering matriarch held her blessings in reserve. > > The result might be called an uneasy truce. A truce which came undone > after the farmer's unmarried daughter adopted and brought home a rescued > dog from a shelter. Despite the fact that the large dog was clearly insane > and a serial biter, in the eyes of the daughter it could do no wrong. > > And by serial biter, I mean that I can personally attest to four people, > two of them residents on the hill, being bitten by the mad dog. Showing > itself to be an equal-opportunity biter, the mad mutt also bit the > long-suffering husband of the Lolo matriarch and viciously mauled our own > dog, the friendliest beagle mix you'd ever hope to meet. > > The long and short of it was that the residents on the hill were > essentially limited to cars only in order to travel down the short road > running down the side of the farmer's property. Any other alternative, say > walking, jogging or riding a bike, required running a gauntlet with a very > good chance you'd be attacked by the never-chained dog. The Lolos were, of > course, well aware of the situation, yet, for what I can only imagine were > purely vengeful reasons, refused to do anything about it. > > Of course, the attacks were reported to the local police, who duly sent > over the animal control officer, but the Lolo matriarch always made quick > work of them – denying any attacks, pointing out that if there was an > attack it took place on their property and threatening to pull strings with > the local governing council to have them fired. > > The final confrontation, regrettably, involved me and my children, still > quite young at the time. The kids wanted to visit friends about a quarter > of a mile away, and as it was a nice day I thought we should walk. While I > can't recall my exact mental state at the moment, I suspect I was fed up > with the fact that the equivalent of a troll had for years effectively > blocked walking access on the road leading to and from our property. > > Being indignant but not stupid, I armed myself with an African war club I > had traded a chief in Botswana for (he got a cigar and a baseball cap), > handed one of the kids a bull whip, and off we set. > > Despite walking as quietly as we could, right on cue the berserk troll > dog, growling a mad and dangerous growl, came charging out of the driveway > of the farmhouse. Shifting into full defense-of-family mode, I wound up and > swung my African war club with all the strength I could muster, fully > desirous of sending the hound to the burning hell it deserved. > Unfortunately, instead of being rewarded with a satisfying thud, or even > better, the sight of the dog's head bouncing down the road, I whiffed it > completely. > > Even so, the club passed close enough to its snarling snout to cause it to > pause in order to better reflect on its options. At which point the > long-suffering husband of the matriarch rushed out and managed to get hold > of the dog's collar without getting bitten himself (yet again). > > Extremely unhappy at the attack, on principle and specifically because it > had put the kids at serious risk, I did something I am loathe to do and > have only done once before in my life (when my car was stolen) and called > the police. > > Well, it turned out that my complaint, coming on top of all preceding it, > fulfilled the allowable per-dog maximum for attacks on humans. Based on > local regulations, the order went out for the dog to be put down. > > Fighting the order, the matriarch forced the issue to court, where I was > to appear as the star witness against the hellish hound. While I don't want > to drown you in the details, I will report that I opened my statement by > flawlessly delivering a paraphrased line lifted from Paladin of *Have Gun > – Will Travel* fame. > > "While I greatly regret having to appear in court against my neighbors," I > said with a dramatic nod in direction of the Lolos, "I have no moral or > ethical compunction about having to do so." > > During my testimony, the daughter who spared no affection in her > unremitting love for her maniacal mutt, grunted, sighed and laughed loudly. > And while doing so, literally waved her hands in the air as if appealing to > god her own self to smote me where I sat. In fact, she raised such a racket > that the judge finally signaled me to pause in mid-sentence, leaned forward > and asked, "What the *hell* are you doing?" > > "I am laughing so I won't cry," she replied, raising her hands once again > to the gods. > > When it was her turn to testify, she stated that I made the whole story > up. When pressed for a motive, she stated that I done so as part of a > nefarious plot ginned up by myself and the neighbors up the hill to take > revenge on the Lolos because we were mad they owned the road up to the > development and so decided to take it out on her misunderstood mutt. (If > the logic expressed in that last sentence seems convoluted, it's only > because it was.) > > It was my turn to laugh, but I did so in a quieter and more dignified > fashion (I like to think). > > Unfortunately, due to a tight court schedule, the judge had to postpone > the rest of the hearing to another day. And that gave the single-minded > matriarch the time she needed to cajole members of the local council into > giving her daughter's dog a free pass. Leaving the dog free to bite another > day. In fact, a few days after the hearing, an acquaintance of mine was > bitten while biking by the farm. According to him, the daughter rushed out > and asked him please not to report it. Unaware of the situation, he kept > mum. > > And so, pretty much for the entire childhood years of our kids, they and > all of the residents on the hill remained unable to freely walk down the > road. > > By now, if you're not asking what the point of these meanderings is, > there's something seriously wrong with you. > > Well, here it is. > > First and foremost, it is always worth remembering that humans can adopt > very warped attitudes, even to the point of falling in love with mad dogs > and mad rulers. > > But more to the actual point of mad dogs and all that, the mindset of all > the various branches of what is currently lumped under the moniker > "Homeland Security" – from the top right down to the domestic police force > – has devolved to the point where a growing swath of the general population > is now actively afraid of them. > > In essence, we the people have stood passively by while our government has > done the equivalent of falling in love with a REALLY BIG mad dog and set it > by the side of every road leading from every house in America. > > Previously, it was only black people who had been trained by bitter > experience to fear "the man." Now the rest of us are beginning to > understand what they have been complaining about all these years. > > *(It strikes me that I am uncertain as to whether there is another more > politically correct *mot du jour* than "blacks." Having moved my primary > residence to a country where political correctness has yet to take hold and > never really having paid attention to the linguistics of racial typing any > way, I fear I'm out of the loop. > > But wait, I'll look it up! Clicking over to Google and typing, "What is > the acceptable term for black people?"... > > The crowd-sourced Yahoo Answers sheds light by asking readers to answer > the following question from a user: > > What is the acceptable term for black people? > > I'm just a little confused, because the NAACP is National Association for > the Advancement of Colored People, yet it's not politically correct to say > colored. Now black is "bad"... but I don't know why, "white" is still used > for Caucasian people. Why does this term change so much? > > Surprisingly (because it actually involves some logic), the "Best Answer" > according to those who cast a vote on Yahoo Answers was the following from > a user named "Evolving Squid" > > How about "people", and "man" or "woman" when referring to individuals? > > Calling people with dark skin "African" or "African American" is really > stupid for a number of demonstrable reasons: > > 1. Not all people with dark skin come from Africa. Many people from south > Asia and the Caribbean have dark skin. > > 2. Not all people who come from Africa have dark skin. Across north Africa > and minorities in the southern bits of Africa tend to be white. > > 3. Almost no dark skinned Americans come from Africa, nor have had any > relatives that have been within 500 miles of the African coast, let alone > being from Africa, within the last 100 years. Calling someone with dark > skin "African American" makes as much sense as calling a blonde-haired > person "Viking American" because he had a Norwegian relative hundreds of > years ago. > > 4. A good many Americans who came from Africa (hence real "African > Americans") are light skinned, having been chased out of South Africa, > Zimbabwe/Rhodesia, Tanzania, etc. by the dark-skinned > majority. > > I continued to poke around the font of all knowledge, the web, but it > seems that no one is actually sure what the correct term is anymore. Paula > Deen, however, could tell you one term that is very much not correct. Oh > well. Having dawdled long enough, I will now yank hard on the wheel and > return to the thread ) > > *The stats show that an increasing trend of police abuse ( here's a link > to one interesting > infographic<http://www.graphs.net/201207/police-brutality-statistics.html>that, > using the comments from the police themselves, should give you a > sense of the scale of what's going on). And it's not just the beat cops > people worry about: a number of > polls<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3qDgEqtDNg>show that a majority of > Americans now see the federal government as a > direct threat to their personal rights and freedoms. All that has come to > pass since the passage of the Patriot Act through Snowden's recent > revelations reveal that threat as real. > > Speaking personally, unlike the idyllic country town in Argentina we now > live for most of the year (a town where the police tend to follow more of > the Barney Fife archetype), when I see a policeman here in the US I > reflectively ratchet my threat assessment level to "code orange" – be on > guard against a possible assault. > > It may just be that I am becoming a paranoid, but if so it is because not > a day passes without receiving emails from correspondents with stories > about out-of-control members of the Homeland Security *apparatchik*. > > Proving the point, a quick dip into my email box for just the past few > days: > > - *Police kill dog.* The story, which has gone viral as I have > received it from a number of correspondents, has to do with a black man > who > was being rousted for no good reason when his dog, which he had put into > his car but jumped out, was gunned down by the harassing officers. In > fairness, I can accept that the police felt threatened by the large > Rottweiler, but the fact remains they were in the process of roughing up > its owner over filming them roughing someone else up. In other words, > rather than having a quiet chat with the dog's owner, who was so > cooperative that even before the police reached him he had docilely > assumed > the recommended position – hands behind his back in order to facilitate > being handcuffed – they felt compelled to start pushing him around, > thereby > creating the situation in the first place. If you want to watch the video, > it's available all over the Internet. It's disturbing. > - *Police terrorize Belgium diplomat and his wife over breastfeeding*. > It happened at a New York golf club when the wife began discreetly > breastfeeding their baby and replied in the negative to a manager who > asked > her to do it in the bathroom. After which, according to the *NY Post* > > - *Minutes later, the Greenburgh Police Department arrived.* > > - *Detective Scott Harding allegedly yelled, "Close the doors!" and > two other diners were told to leave the terrace.* > > - *"He was walking as if he was acting in a Western movie," Neijens > said. "He had one hand on his gun, one hand on his Taser."* > > - Here's the > story.<http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mom_terror_bust_n1BftwpraCJSSBW1xjf2aO> > > - *US Army blocks access to Guardian website to preserve "network > hygiene."* After all, can't have our fighters for freedom learning the > truth about the kind of freedom they are actually fighting for. Story > > here.<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/28/us-army-blocks-guardian-website-access> > > - *US post offices taking pictures of all our mail for database.*According > to an article just published in Reason "The Mail Isolation > Control and Tracking program, in which Postal Service computers photograph > the exterior of every piece of paper mail that is processed in the United > States – about 160 billion pieces last year. It is not known how long the > government saves the images...." Full story > here.<http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/03/us-post-office-taking-pictures-of-all-ou> > > - *US mother loses baby over poppy seed bagel.* Giving birth in a US > hospital apparently now requires submitting to a blood test for illegal > drugs. In the case of Elizabeth Mort, the test came up with a false > positive – the result of having eaten a poppy seed bagel prior to heading > to the hospital. And so, with zero due process, the authorities snatched > her three-day-old daughter and held her captive for five days. Story > here. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23153685> > - *College student arrested after buying a carton of bottled water.*And I > quote, "Undercover Virginia police pulled a gun and tried to break > through the car windows of a 20-year-old college student, suspecting that > the underage girl's sparkling water was a 12-pack of beer. She was later > jailed. > - "When agents from Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) division > saw college student Elizabeth Daly leaving a supermarket with cookie > dough, > ice cream, and a 12-pack, they assumed that she had purchased beer as an > underage student and took extreme actions to stop her. > - "The seven plainclothed agents approached the vehicle in which the > girl and her roommates were sitting, and one officer allegedly jumped on > the hood of the car. Daly claims another officer pulled out his gun, which > scared the students and prompted them to drive away." > > > Just in this small sampling, we have police harassing a peaceful > individual – then shooting his dog – for recording them on his phone camera > a police squad led by a detective is sent out to roust someone for > breastfeeding the US government applying cyberwarfare techniques against a > media outlet a baby taken from its mother for a false positive drug test > and seven undercover officers, with guns, aggressively "investigating" > underage drinking. > > In the case of the latter, I would have loved to hear the radio chatter, > though I suspect it went something like this > > *"Alpha team, we have a probable coming out of the door of the Jiffy > Mart. It looks like she's got a package!" > > "Roger that, Bravo team, we have eyes on target." > > "Roger that, Alpha team. Can you see the package? Say again, can you see > the package?" > > "Bravo team, hold one. Officer Lipshitz is moving into position to > identify the package." > > "Lipshitz, Bravo team leader here, Alpha team is asking if you can see the > package." > > "Bravo team leader, Lipshitz here, hold one. Wait, it's blue. Some beer > cans are blue. It must be beer!" > > "Alpha team, we have a confirm from Lipshitz – it's beer!" > > "All units, all units, we have beer! Move in, I say again: we have beer, > move in!" > > *Is it just me, or does anyone else surveying the purported inability of > the US government to reduce its massive budget by any real amount concur > that paying seven officers to man a stakeout designed to arrest college > students for drinking beer is money poorly spent? That they then mistakenly > identified water as beer only adds inanity to the insults and injury. > > But seriously, somebody could have been killed during this incident, and > someone – a 20-year-old college student who had done nothing wrong – did > end up in jail for the night. > > You how you can tell you live in a police state? How about when people > have to start worrying that they might end up dead or in jail as a result > of breastfeeding in public, or buying water at a convenience store? > > As one regular correspondent put it in an email to Doug Casey with a copy > to me > > Doug: > > You have often made the paradoxical observation that it will be worse than > you think it will be. While the context was economics and the financial > hardships that would manifest, I think it is safe to say that culturally > your quip has already played out. It is certainly happening way faster than > I thought. > > And, like any police state, the authorities will find any number of > willing accomplices within the populace. In the case of the brazen Belgian > breastfeeder, shown here, apparently the manager was concerned that the > black backpack containing the baby's necessities might also contain a bomb. > > Reading even the local paper in this very small town, it is notable how > many of the reports in the police blotter these days are the result of the > police being called out by "concerned" citizens as a result of paranoia or > a bad case of busy-bodyness. A sampling > > *June 18, at 3:31 p.m., complaint about people partying on a vacant lot > on Jones Hill Road. No one was found. > > June 19, at 10:16 p.m., a suspicious vehicle was seen at Maggie's Bridge. > It had mysteriously disappeared by the time police arrived. > > June 21, at 7:42 p.m., report of two employees at a local bar having a > verbal argument; no arrests were made. > > June 23, at 9:33 a.m., a caller reported a Quebec RV parked next to the > construction site for Stowe's new ice arena. The caller was worried the > campers were about to "dump their tanks" on the site. Police spoke to the > owners of the RV, who said they were headed home and hadn't planned on > dumping their tanks. > > June 24, at 12:18 a.m., report of an underage drinking party at Maggie's > Bridge. Police found two people, who were not underage and were not > drinking. > > June 26, at 2:36 p.m., a man was "making people uncomfortable" at the > Union Bank on Smith Street. > > June 28, at 8:08 p.m., a woman on Homes Lane complained about a neighbor's > child "being loud." Police spoke with the child's parents. > > June 29, at 12:38 p.m., police were told a stop sign went missing at the > intersection of South Hollow and Lane Hollow roads. It was there when > police arrived. > > *Going back to the mad-dog-waiting-on-the-side-of-the-road analogy, it > seems to me that the risk of misadventure at the hands of the overzealous > state is escalating to a perilous point. > > I'm not talking about just being beaten up or gunned down, but also about > being made a social outcast or financially ruined for tripping over some > law that shouldn't have been enacted in the first place. Even wishing to > peacefully trade goods and services using private currencies – such as the > Liberty dollar, whose founder Bernard von NotHaus was labeled a "financial > terrorist" – can get your door kicked in. > > In terms of a specific roadside threat, the classic example is provided by > the alcohol blood level which, if exceeded even a little, tips you into the > category of hardened criminal. In most states, the allowable alcohol blood > level is .08, well below what the original scientific studies on how much > is too much to drive recommended. Nevertheless, if you are in an accident > and you have had even a single drink, it will invariably weigh against you > – and in a big way. > > Even the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving has turned against the > organization, accusing it of adopting a "neo-prohibitionist" attitude when > the original mandate was to address the specific problem of drunk driving. > And so it is that even a single drink at your favorite restaurant means > passing the equivalent of a mad dog on your way home. You can only hope it > doesn't bite you. > > (A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: During the period around the Fourth of > July holiday, celebrating American freedom and all that, the police are > particularly active with road blocks. > > As the breathalyzers used at these unconstitutional road blocks are > notoriously inaccurate, if you are stopped and asked to blow, it is within > your rights to ask that the analysis be performed with a blood test. The > police don't like the inconvenience of having to transport you to the local > hospital for the blood to be drawn, but don't be afraid to ask. Just do it > politely or they could shoot your dog.) > > This same mad dog lurks by the side of every road, watching in every > airport, data center and pretty much everywhere else you turn in the US > these days. That it is supposedly owned by we the people makes the > situation the height of irony. Even walking quietly is no guarantee you > won't be attacked. > > While I wish it were otherwise, the authoritarian trend that has escalated > so surprisingly since 9/11 will, I am sure, run its full course. Which is > to say that the trend is likely to slow and *maybe* turn down again only > after something akin to Kent State happens that *finally* awakens a level > of righteous indignation sufficient to send the public *en masse* into > the streets. > > When might the tipping point be reached? Looking at the litany of abuses > of power – to which you can add widespread domestic spying and the > prosecution of whistleblowers – and the lack of public reaction, I think we > are a long way off. > > Speaking of whistleblowers, I have a whistle to blow. A business associate > of mine who has a sister in the New York police force showed me a card that > is issued by the police union to the immediate families and even just > friends of police officers in that state. If pulled over by the police for > pretty much any reason, simply show the card and the police officer will > send you on your way. In other words, it's a "get out of jail free" card. > > Oh wait, I just did a quick search and the whistle was already blown on > these cards earlier this > year<http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/get_out_of_jail_now_it_for_sale_mIuVPyS5xsZRVY6ilEk9BI>. > > Yet it appears to have had no consequence, as the cards are still being > issued. You want to know how else you can tell you are living in a police > state? How about when regular folks get harassed and the relatives and > friends of the police get a free pass? > > http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/how-to-tell-if-you-live-in-a-police-state >
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