Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Two Jobs, One Paying, One Non-Paying ...

Forced to choose, I've had to focus on my paying job lately; blogging has been a luxury that my work duties have not permitted. Sorry for the absence, here's what I've been thinking about:
  • About six months after Abner Louima's torture at the hands of the NYPD was revealed, a colleague of mine at Proskauer and I were having lunch when the subject of police brutality arouse. He asked me what I was talking about and claimed to not have heard about the Louima case. His lack of knowledge and apparent disinterest in the matter was eye opening to me. Here was an Ivy League educated attorney at a major NY firm and he didn't know (or particularly care) about one of the most horrific acts of police brutality in modern times. To him, and I suspect to many others for whom police brutality is not something to fear, allegations of police brutality are just more complaining. For those for whom any encounter with the police might result in the use of excessive force, the Louima case, and more recently, the killing of Sean Bell, merely add to a long history of police brutality against people of color. It makes the news these days (even then, with footage and all, justice is not guaranteed), yet for people in these communities, you don't have to see it in the news to know about it. Chances are you, or people you know, have been roughed up by the cops; have had minor encounters trumped up into serious cases; have seen cops work to get you in the system in order to build a foundation to justify whatever future action they take against you, etc. This isn't paranoia or a conspiracy theory, for low income New Yorkers and Blacks and Latinos in particular, this is daily life.

  • I haven't had time (duh!) to do the research but I had a thought that I want to pursue eventually. President Carter has been reviled by the right since he left office, for among other reasons, the damage to America his handling of the Iran Hostage Crisis resulted in. In addition to the 400+ days the hostages were held (their release was delayed to coincide with Reagan's inauguration), many have also sharply criticized the failed attempt to rescue the hostages in which several US soldiers were killed. My question/thesis is this: how much money and life (and more abstractly, American prestige) was lost due to Carter's handling of the crisis, vis a vis President Bush's handling of the War on Terror, the invasion of Iraq, and his Axis of Evil paradigm?

  • VP Dick Cheney's daughter (and her partner of 15 years), are pregnant. Even Darth Vader himself will probably welcome the child into the family, but those on the right to whom Cheney and his wife pandered about the evils of homosexuality aren't too pleased.

  • Dennis Prager is an asshole. And an uninformed fool. Sadly, he has an audience of millions.

  • Public Service Announcement: Don't spend too much this Christmas - everyone you're buying a gift for already has too much shit. Save your money and show them you care other ways. Paid for by: You'll always be broke if you spend all your money.

  • The NYC trans fat ban for restaurants was approved by the City Council. I smell a lawsuit. If the fry aint crisp, you must acquit.

  • Any smoothie drinkers out there? I just bought an immersion blender, some whey protein, and mixing ingredients. My interest in this might fade quicker than my loose tea period.

  • Pookie and the fellas are rolling through this weekend. God help me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That immersion blender is on my Xmas list after a recent potato soup "accident" in which I assumed that pouring boiled potatoes into an old-fashioned blender would do the trick. The little voice in my head that started to ask a few questions about the logic of this move was quickly stifled by my stubborn nature. An airborne blender top and a few minor burns later, my wife mentioned that an immersion blender would be a good idea for someone with my level of patience. (After locating the aloe vera) I couldn't have agreed more.

So if yours winds up collecting dust and no one actually buys me one, feel free to re-gift to me (my birthday's in January).

Anonymous said...

One hell of a weekend Big-D. I hope you enjoyed it. thanks for the taking care of PookDigga. Send me the Devil's email.

btw, its interesting how NeoCons and Chickenhawks refuse to "negotiate" with terroists, when Reagan was secretly negotiating with the Iranians for the release of the hostages. ironic.