Same As It Ever Was

But tell us again why we can't deal with the monstrous Castro brothers.

9/12

So, another '9/11' has passed us by with no major drama, that I noticed anyway, and no major terrorist-attacks, bar of course those that are now routine across parts of the Islamic world thanks in large part to the destabilising efforts and warmongering of lunatic politicians in the West.  Whatever.

I've always held that the twelfth of September, not the eleventh, should be a national day of mourning and remembrance for the United States.  Not so much for the day itself, or any specific events thereof, but as a general symbolic signifier of all the insanity that proceeded from America's reaction to the traumatic events of the day before.  The Patriot Act.  The War in Iraq.  Extraordinary Rendition.  Illegal (for some of which retroactive amnesty was had to be later granted) spying on Americans.  Secret intelligence-deals with European countries.  The constant fearmongering.  The indefinite detainment in Guantanamo Bay of civilians without trial, often on the basis of mere hearsay; of individuals, many of whom were later found to be completely innocent.  The torture of inmates in prisons in Iraq.  The extrajudicial executions by drone.  The 'Axis of Evil' rhetoric and subsequent toxification of what had been thawing relations with Iran.  'Homeland Security.'  'Enemy Combatants.'  'With us or against us.'  'Old Europe.'  'Freedom Fries.'  The trillions of dollars wasted.  The Dead.  The Displaced.  The countries utterly demolished.  The encouragement and inspiration given to a whole new generation of would-be jihadis and extremists.  The rise of ISIS.

I was as horrified as anyone to see those towers fall.  To see the smoke rising from the Pentagon.  To think of the last moments of Flight 93.  To imagine what it would be like to be driven to jump from the windows of a fucking skyscraper, out of desperation to avoid the smoke and the flames.  Bodies falling from the sky on live television.

Today, I feel almost nothing when I think of '9/11.'  A numbness perhaps.  A cold emptiness ?  But mostly, nothing.  It happened.  It was horrible.  What came after, what was done in the name of that tragedy, that outrage, was infinitely worse.  And is with us still.  And in the name of the so-called 'War on Terror' that by definition can never end, perhaps with us always.

We need a name for the day perhaps.  Something to match the Orwellian monstrosity of naming the 11th 'Patriot Day.'  Something to memorialise the moment that the United States collectively lost its shit.  Abandoned perhaps forever the values that had made it the greatest beacon of liberal values in the world for over two-hundred years.  Shit, something, if nothing else, to remind us that there was a time when we weren't always at war.  When we didn't routinely give away our liberties without question and without protest in the name of 'security.'

We have a whole generation coming into voting-age who have never known anything else.  For whom the police-state and the endless war of the post-9/11 era is 'normal.'  Well, for my own part, fuck that.  No, it will never be normal.  It will never be right.

From Point A...to...Point B...Eventually...

Haven't had anything to say on the death in police-custody of Freddie Gray, or the subsequent protests/riots/uprising (take your pick), but this thing with the timeline and the multiple stops is fascinating to me.

So, if I understand it correctly, Gray was taken into custody in the 1700 block of Presbury Street, just across from N Mount Street, and on the way to the police-station at 1034 N Mount Street, which is directly to the south, rather than head straight down N Mount Street or down N Fulton Avenue, the cops instead detoured southeast to the OK Groceries (or vicinity thereof) at 714 W Mosher Street, for unknown or undisclosed reasons, then stopped at Druid Hill Avenue & Dolphin Street, which is to the east, to check on Gray, before being directed to pick up another prisoner at 1600 W North Avenue, over to the northwest, and not far from where Gray first ran from the police (intersection of W North Avenue & N Mount Street), before finally returning to the police-station.  Shortly after which at some point, paramedics were called to transport 'an unconscious male' to the hospital.

This, without the stops, Google Maps has (although obviously dependent on traffic and time of day) as a sixteen to eighteen minute drive, versus a three or four minute drive straight to the station.  Keeping in mind that the police were transporting an individual clearly in need of medical attention.

Wonder what the cops' explanation will be.  If any.


*Note, address on Presbury Street is just an approximation of location based on images released.  Address of store on W Mosher Street is based on stated intersection and seeming correspondence between records of holder of liquor-licence at said location and individual quoted in the media.  Address on Druid Hill Ave. is also an approximation based on intersection.

**Also, obviously, this is speculation based on what has been released to date by the authorities, and Google Maps' recommendations as to routing may bear little resemblance to the actual route taken by police.

***Sample sources for timeline:
http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/freddie-gray/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/events-leading-freddie-gray-death-police-custody-article-1.2205414

Think of the Children

So some paparazzo takes (very boring) pictures of Paul Weller and his teenage daughter out shopping in LA with Weller's twin babies in a pushchair or stroller.  So the Daily Mail publishes some of these pictures, misidentifying Weller's daughter as his wife.  The Weller family sues the Daily Mail, wins damages, and now Weller's wife is pushing for a law in Britain criminalising the publication of non-pixelated potentially recognisable pictures of childrens' faces without their parents' consent.  Common-sense measure to protect children or slippery slope ?

Personally I think it's rather pathetic that there's a market for such pictures in the first place, and the world would be a much better place without paparazzi scum harassing and stalking individuals who happen to be celebrities or friends and relatives of the same.  But must we really legislate everything to this degree ?  Would the measure apply only to newspapers ?  What about street photography ?  And why, if we're going down this road, shouldn't adults be entitled to the same protections ?

In a sane world, surely we'd agree that publications that engage in or encourage this type of activity should be shunned, and that would be that.  But ooh, look...they got pictures of Brangelina at the beach, ooh look at that actress without makeup, doesn't she look old !  Oh look, evidence of space aliens in Hitler's bunker.  I'll just add that to my basket at the checkout and have a nice read later over tea.