As an institution, the Baltimore City PD is simply not trustworthy.

The BCPD has alienated the inner-city community with meritless arrests, it's alienated the DIY arts community with constant harassment, it's alienated the activist community with illegal arrests. It's failed to enforce even the most basic standards of behavior on its officers, letting a cop who shot a man while drunk keep his position.

Good cops are driven out, mediocre cops are corrupted, until all that's left are the very bad cops who deal out this sort of abuse and the moderately bad cops who let them get away with it, until any citizen encountering an officer has to assume they may be dealing with a violent psychopath with no respect for basic rights until proven otherwise.

I don't think a force this corrupt can be salvaged. Disband it and start fresh.

Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations. Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

Those cases detail a frightful human toll. Officers have battered dozens of residents who suffered broken bones — jaws, noses, arms, legs, ankles — head trauma, organ failure, and even death, coming during questionable arrests. Some residents were beaten while handcuffed; others were thrown to the pavement.

And in almost every case, prosecutors or judges dismissed the charges against the victims — if charges were filed at all. In an incident that drew headlines recently, charges against a South Baltimore man were dropped after a video showed an officer repeatedly punching him — a beating that led the police commissioner to say he was “shocked.”

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was. Let's go pour some more gasoline on that fire, we'll put it out this time for sure!

Islamic State recruitment soaring in wake of U.S. bombing - Middle EastIsrael News - Haaretz Israeli News source

The Islamic State jihadist organization has recruited more than 6,000 new fighters since America began targeting the group with air strikes last month, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

...

A number of rebel commanders who oppose IS while continuing to fight the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad have warned that the strikes are increasing local support for the jihadists.

FFS. Obviously, why should the 1% have there feeds polluted with the posts of the poors? OTOH, the subscriber's list would be a handy reference when we start sending the aristos to the guillotine.

Netropolitan Is Facebook For The Rich, Only A $9000 Fee To Join

However, unlike Facebook which is looking to connect everyone to the internet, there is a new site called Netropolitan that focuses more on exclusivity and privacy.

The site, which launched today, was founded by composer and former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra James Touchi-Peters who wanted to provide a social media site for affluent and accomplished individuals. People wishing to join need only pay a mere $9,000 to join. Of that amount, $6,000 is the initiation fee and the remaining $3,000 is for the annual membership fee which users will continue to pay.

If you think that bad cops won't shock you and beat you just because you're not black, nope. Race is a factor but it's not the only factor -- the most important one is "I'm a cop, you're not."

FBI probes traffic stop that left Missouri teen in critical condition (Yahoo News)

The FBI said in a statement that it is investigating whether police officer Tim Runnels overstepped his authority and violated the civil rights of Bryce Masters when he pulled over the 17-year-old and used a stun gun on him on Sunday in Independence, Missouri, a Kansas City suburb.

...

Witnesses told the Kansas City Star that Masters was unable to roll down his window because it was broken and that after handcuffing Masters outside the car, Runnels dropped him on the pavement, causing him to injure his head.

The normalization of electric shock torture continues. Soon all citizens can be fitted with remotely controlled shock devices -- if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear from them, right?

Skin shocks used at Mass. school draw FDA look (Yahoo News)

It's a rare move by the FDA, following years of complaints from disability rights' groups and even a U.N. report that the shocks are tantamount to torture.

...

...The center uses a graduated electronic decelerator, or GED, that is attached to the arms or legs. If the student acts aggressively — head-banging, throwing furniture, attacking someone — then a center worker can press a button to activate the electrode, delivering a two-second shock to the skin.

Some patients compared the shocks to a hard pinch or bee sting. Others say it's far more painful; one said it was like being stung by a thousand bees.

...

"It's not safe. It doesn't feel safe. I ended up having nightmares," Jennifer Msumba testified via video at the FDA's hearing. The 38-year-old said the GED left burn marks and was prone to misfires, unintended shocks.

Yet another reason to use two tin cans and a string over Comcast.

Comcast Declares War on Tor? - Deep Dot Web (Deep Dot Web)

Reports have surfaced (Via /r/darknetmarkets and another one submitted to us) that Comcast agents have contacted customers using Tor and instructed them to stop using the browser or risk termination of service. A Comcast agent named Jeremy allegedly called Tor an “illegal service.” The Comcast agent told its customer that such activity is against usage policies.

...

...The Comcast agent then allegedly told the customer:

Users who try to use anonymity, or cover themselves up on the internet, are usually doing things that aren’t so-to-speak legal. We have the right to terminate, fine, or suspend your account at anytime due to you violating the rules. Do you have any other questions? Thank you for contacting Comcast, have a great day. [emphasis added -tms]

It's not just the militarization of police, its the "prison-ization" of our schools. If teachers can't deal with minor disciplinary problems (and a student who wants to keep her phone because she's worried about her mom's health doesn't sound like a disciplinary problem to start with) without calling in armed thugs, they need better training.

More and more I begin to think that the whole idea of separate, full-time, so-called "professional" police forces might be as bad of an idea as a standing army.

Super-Tough Cops Take Down 70-Pound High School Girl Who Wanted To Keep Her Cell Phone (Yahoo News)

When Perez tried to walk away, the assistant principal called the police....

...Two campus cops participated in the takedown. A third stood around and watched his colleagues.

“Both of the cops just tackled her down to the floor,” said another student, Gustavo Lucio, to a KHOU reporter. Ironically, Gustavo filmed the incident with his own cell phone.

“They put her knee on her head and after that they just arrested her, took her phone,” Gustavo explained. “The cop just said you can’t use your phone and after that, no words no nothing, just actions, grabbed her, threw her down.”

Well, there goes any chance I will ever contribute to any GoFundMe campaigns again. I'm guessing the "sorcery" thing would leave a lot of Pagans out.

GoFundMe, the site that has raised money for convicted murderers, will draw the line at abortion and ‘sorcery’ (Washington Post)

Earlier this week, the platform — which operates like its big-brother Kickstarter, but with far fewer rules — summarily shut down the sincere, if irreverent, fundraiser of an Illinois woman who had raised $2,100 to terminate a “rough, unplanned and unexpected pregnancy.”...

In the uproar that followed, GoFundMe didn’t just take down Bailey’s page. On Tuesday, the platform also categorically banned fundraisers on a wide range of arbitrary moral issues, including abortion, gambling, “sorcery” and any material “relating to the adult industry” in any capacity.

From the "most dangerous street gang" department:

WATCH: NYPD officers take turns beating Bronx man after search turns up nothing

A Bronx man has accused a half-dozen NYPD officers of taking turns beating and kicking him after he asked an officer why he had been searched when she was responding to a noise complaint, according to ABC7.

...

“I turned around and put my hands up,” Hernandez explained, saying the officers told him they were investigating a noise complaint.

When the search turned up nothing, Hernandez asked why he had been searched. At that point the female officer grabbed his armed and slapped a handcuff on him.

...

Moments after refusing to comply to an order to put both his hands behind his back, a half-dozen uniformed officers appeared and dog-piled on Hernandez, punching and kicking and dragging him onto the sidewalk.

Cellphone video backs up his account of the assault.

“They was taking turns on me. One kicks me, he steps back. Another one comes to punch me and he steps back,” Hernandez said. “And another one comes and grabs my arm and hits me like 10 times with the baton. Another one comes and pepper sprayed me, they were taking turns like a gang.”